Allostatic Load
by astronomicalkitten
Summary: (Ron x carl) Rick's group arrives, of course, they take a while to settle in, Ron takes a liking to the grimes boy, a rather harsh liking. (semi-slow build & trigger warnings at beginning of each chapter)
1. Chapter 1

**Allostatic load**

Having been stressed for the last few weeks had honest to god wore Ron down to the bone, his neck and chest were caked with a vibrant red. The recent days have been longer due to the season change, leaving the citizens of Alexandria to fend off violent sunburn and heatstroke. Even then the whole town was spending the afternoon cooped up in their houses. Jeans were swapped with shorts and bandanas to sun hats, anything to shade from the heat. Ron paced his room for the seventh time, wondering solemnly what he could do to pass the time. He'd decided to shut the shades after the heat had crept in through the window. This wasn't a normal heat, it was humid, not a dry heat. The subtle breeze was the only real thing stopping him from slamming the thing shut. Eventually the dark shades would absorb the heat and become hot to the touch.

About 45 and a half paces in is when he heard it.

The pitter patter and crumble of shoes on pavement, a few of the other yelling, calling for Deanna. Spencer flew by seconds after, making a beeline straight for the main gate. Ron thrust open the shades and stuck his head put the window. His beanie fell into the bushes below. The intensity of the sun caused him to squint but he could make out the faint figures of spencer and some others standing by the entrance.

"Hurry up and get those gates open! Aaron's out there!" Eric shouted, nearly falling over his feet trying to get to the gates. Ron ran downstairs in a fit of curiosity, his mother nearly on his heels trying to get him to come back in fear of potentially exposing her son to danger.

He stopped by a nearby tree, peering around the width, which was just about wide enough to hide him. The adults had gathered in a tight circle. All he could make out were hand gestures.

A rustle caught him off guard and he quickly tensed up. Enid dropped out of the tree to his right, startling him but somehow still expecting it.

"You hear about the new people too?" She asked, pulling twigs and dirt out of her brown locks of hair.

"Heard Spencer and Eric runnin' down to open the gates."

She smirked, one of Ron's favorite things to come from his girlfriend. He pulled her hand closer to his and squeezed it as they watched the adults pull the doors open to reveal a rather large entourage of survivors. The one standing in the middle reminded him vaguely of a Greek god, he couldn't quite remember the name of him, not after three months of other irrelevant schooling, he was holding a child; little girl by the looks of it. By his side were about 9 other survivors, they all looked torn. Hair tangled and oily at the tips and skin coated with uneven complexion, bruises, and soot. Their bodies reddened from the sun. Baked evenly and as skinny as a calf, bones nearly protruding from their thin t-shirts. They all were in need of Alexandria. The concern was if they would take it by force. Ron didn't notice the absence of Enid's hand until he clenched his fist. He looked around, a bit concerned but he knew she was only off to investigate. He overheard Aaron talking to the group as they spread out into different parts over the town, they were going to talk to Deanna and then choose their houses. Ron knew so far that the couple, that was going to move in next to him was Michonne… and Rick, with his son Carl and daughter Judith. As soon as they began walking closer Ron bolted for the shoreline of the pond, running along the edge until he was able to casually walk out of the de-elevated area and onto the sidewalk like nothing happened. As soon as he entered his house again his mother grabbed the hem of his hoodie and forced him backward. Ron could almost feel his own dignity being ripped from his body, it made it even more excruciating to know that his brother was standing in the doorway watching their mother draw on and on.

"Ron do you understand how dangerous people are? After all, of our talks you still don't get that?"

She droned on endlessly to the point where not only was he numb to the matter at hand that he simply didn't care enough to even keep his eyes open.

"Ron! Are you listening to me? This is important!" Jesse said, gritting Her teeth together.

"Sure mom, I get it. I do, really."

She rubbed at the skin between her brow with her thumb like she always does when she's stressed, especially and specifically when she was stressed with the boys.

"I'm sorry mom" Ron whispered while running his fingers other the spot where the hoodie had been snatched.

A few tears slipped from her eyelids as she pulled her son into an embrace.

"I'm sorry too, I don't wanna see anything happen to my baby boy."

Ron slightly cringed at the Nickname while hesitantly backing away from his mother to avoid her squeezing the life out of him. Once he was out of her reach he ran up to his room and looked out his window to the other house. He spotted Carl on the couch. He looked peaceful with the toddler cradled in his arms, brown hair leaking out of his cowboy hat and onto the cushion of the couch. His eyes traveled to the porch just as the woman… Michonda or something was leaving. Ron hastily directed his attention to a nearby bookshelf. He pretended to fiddle with the cover of one of his favorite horror books. Once she was out of sight he went back to creeping on his new neighbors. The man, Rick was in the bathroom cleaning up. Ron looked away, flushed and sunk down to sit on the floor, hoping that he didn't see him. Yea, that would make for a good first impression.

Eventually, he came to the conclusion that that was enough snooping for today, even after he managed to take glances every so often but nothing too long or too prude.

The evening was bound to cool down the hot air, Jesse had him convinced that he needed to step out of the house for once and show the new kid around. She insisted on going over and bringing supplies, she stayed for about a half an hour more to give the man a haircut. It could have been born out of kindness or lust but Ron despised the way his mother would look at Rick with eyes full of love, he hated it. Ron knew that his mother was daring enough to pay a lick of attention to the parade of potential psychopaths, not with their dad around of course. If His father found out they all knew they'd have a storm comin'. Alexandrian's knew about the Anderson family, they knew that Jesse would trade bright purple bruises with throbbing red slashes across her face and neck. Pete had his demons, some stronger than others, the one that always seemed to win was a 25-ounce bottle of Jack Daniels.

Ron pushed his memories aside. locking them in the far away parts of his brain for later when he actually had the mental capacity to handle such things. He took a peek out of the window once more, the sun was done baking the air and left the town in a cloud of a warm comfortable atmosphere. The scent of the monsters was highlighted significantly more now than previously during the morning. It was faintly putrid, the thought that made him gag was the smell of burning flesh. Ron's eyes wandered down from the sunset to the window of the neighboring house. Steam lightly caked the window, which was still uncovered. The new resident stood on the tile undressing. Ron covered his mouth and watched as the teen took off his hat and set it delicately on the countertop, along with his flannel, folded neatly. His undershirt was off in a matter of seconds and folded up in the same pile. The teen began to unbutton his jeans and that's when he couldn't take it any longer, Ron thrust the window shut, pulled the shades down and slammed himself against the wall, shielding his eyes. Staring was rude and that's initially what he'd chalked it up too but this was borderline stalking. To feel this amount of guilt was unbearable. Ron groaned into his palms and attempted to go back to a relaxed state. A sudden pressure was felt against his jeans. His all so familiar friend.

"God Damn it"


	2. Games

The morning came soon enough, sleep had been an issue for Ron. The dark really wasn't his forte, in fact, he was quite terrified of it. He remembered Sam once saying that it's when the monsters come out. A bit odd to be scared of something his little brother said, I guess that's what made him out to be the pansy that his father saw in him. Ron opened the windows and changed out of his space dog t-shirt and into something more comfortable. The torn jeans he had on accented the badass light gray shirt he had on, with a touch of hipster.

He grabbed a slice of bread off of the counter and a can of peaches. Both items went into his knapsack. Before he even had time to open the door there was a knock. Ron missed the noise at first and swung open the door.

"Woah! Hey!"

The new boy stepped back, allowing for Ron to catch himself on the doorframe.

The boy held out his arm hesitantly

"I'm... Carl.." He said shakily. They shook hands awkwardly.

"I heard, nice to uh... Meet you."

They stood on the porch, fiddling with their hands until Ron spoke.

"W-would you like me to show you around? I was just about to head over to m-my friends house..." He stuttered, almost tripping over his words.

"I'd like that" Carl said with a shy smile. Ron was glad that he was more open than Enid, depends on how open his was planning to be.

They walked down the streets past the Monroe's place and to Mikey's place. The door was unlocked, as usual, Mike's parents would leave early to get a head start on work. Ron knew Mikey was always left alone in the house with Enid until school. Which was slightly nerving to leave his girlfriend cooped up in there with her nonmutual crush. He despised the fact that they sometimes fought over such a simple emotion. Like Enid was some prize to be won.

With his mind amid the thoughts, Ron nearly tripped over the first few steps heading in. Carl grabbed his arm and pulled him back up slowly as not to dislocate the shoulder.

"You ok man? You kinda zoned out…?"

Ron shook his head and sighed.

"Just thinkin' too hard, you know?"

Carl nodded and followed him inside.

Mikey's house was lit up on the inside with all sorts of scented candles. Butterscotch, cinnamon, and lavender in the upstairs. Ron led Carl into Mikey's room where Enid was sitting solely on the bed with an issue of the Wolf Among Us in hand. Mikey was on the floor with a controller in hand surrounded by dirty laundry, the pre-apocalypse teenage life.

Ron cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the others.

"Uh, hey guys! This is Carl from the group of new recruits." He punctuated his speech with a soft and genuine smile directed toward Carl.

Enid said nothing, the only sound she made was the soft crinkle of the comic as she turned to the next page.

"So Carl, this is Enid and over there is Mikey."

Enid continued to look forward gazing at the paper in front of her. Mikey, on the other hand, paused his game and turned around with a dumb smile on his face.

"Aw man, it's been forever since I've seen a new face! Nice to meet you, man!"

Carl fist bumps Mikey, very awkwardly. He pulled out a comic that had to have been rolled up in his belt loop because Ron didn't see it on him until now. It was the seventh issue of the wolf among us.

"Is this any of yours? I found it in the attic of the house in."

"Oh, that's Enid's" Ron said, passing the comic to his partner as she snatched it out of his hands and threw it on the bedsheets next to her.

There was a brief silence for a moment, the whole room was engulfed in some sort of socially awkward aura. The feeling was broken when Mikey spoke in between bot kills.

"So Carl, you're from the outside… right?"

Enid perked up immediately due to the mention of the world that she was so enveloped in outside the walls.

"Yea, looks like you guys have it pretty nice in here."

"Speaking of nice, I've got the worlds last copy of unturned, wanna play?" He extended the controller out to Carl as he took it excitedly.

Ron sat on the Bed next to Enid, slightly shifting the weight of the mattress.

"Hey, you alright?"

"I'm good, just tired."

"That's good. Not that you're tired I mean, just… get some sleep tonight please?"

She nodded in confirmation as Ron got up to watch the brunette duo shoot down herds of zombies, brains after brain being diminished until the hordes got too big and devoured both of the pixelated characters. Carl looked back at Ron, who was unintentionally staring into Carl's lap at the time. He looked up and met face to face with blue orbs, the colors made his blood run ice cold.

"Hey, Ron," Carl said, dangling the controller in his hand "you want a turn?"

Ron's head snapped back up with a series of mumbles, he accepted and traded places with Carl. The warmth that he'd created by sitting on the carpet was soothing to Ron, the slight comfort made him feel safer than he already was.

Four hours and 35 games later Enid had come in with the highest score of 752 kills. Pretty good for someone who's joined during the middle of their play through. She tossed the controller onto an old shirt.

"You guys suck." She said with a chuckle and laid back down on the bed to finish her comic. Mikey looked astonished, and maybe a tad bit more... thirsty.

Ron had to admit that twice, he intentionally let Carl win, he didn't want him to feel bad after being demolished by some geeks who'd been playing this since the outbreak.

"It's getting pretty dark out, and I figure our parents will want us back" Ron said. Carl sighed and picked up his sheriff hat, taking it out the door with a few waves.

Mikey's parents were home so they both got stuck playing the introduction game for a few minutes more. During the talk, Carl spotted Ron's hand wandering just beside his thigh and higher up into a region that was admittedly off limits. Carl shot him a look, which he ignored. He continued to watch his hand work its way up until he got to the side of the marble counter. That's when it all became clear. He waited for Mikey's mother to throw her head back in laughter over another one of his stupid jokes once more and then grabbed a pastry that was sitting on the counter to cool. The Danish was hidden behind his curved hand as they left. The cool afternoon hit them hard, the temperature dropped from nearly an 89 to about a 50 They walked down the streets where people had slowly begun to scatter back into their houses, curtains were shut and lamps were dimmed.

Carl took off his blue flannel plaid shirt to reveal a black t-shirt. The plaid was tied around his waist as Ron took a bite of the Danish

"You're devious," Carl said with a smirk

"Ok jealous, you want some?"

Carl nodded, he broke off a piece. The Danish was ever so slightly warm, the outsides crumbling and the jelly oozing from the split. He took a bite and it filled his mouth with all sorts of exotic flavors.

"This is…wow."

"Yea, Mikey's mom has been serious about her Danishes for about, forever."

As soon as the boys reached the cul-de-sac they departed with handshakes and waves.

"Oh and, Ron!"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for showing me around!"

Ron smiled

"No problem man! anytime!"

Ron entered his house with a smile on his face, one that didn't disappear for a while.


	3. Walls

Allostatic Load 3

Life was peaceful for the last few days; not that it never wasn't but, the normal routine for the week was, get up at 8:00 or 9 and head over to Mikey's with Carl after breakfast, chill until twelve, mess around at school, go back to Mikey's until dark, rinse and repeat. Ron loved hanging out with the three of them, Enid, Carl, Mikey and Ron against the world. He had to admit, Mikey and Carl were pretty hilarious together their humor seemed to match up almost perfectly, minus Mikey's slight pervertedness. Someone from his group, Daryl, offered to scavenge up new games for the console. Soon enough Carl began to open up and confided in Ron with his feelings about Alexandria and the walls, Ron was almost always happy to listen. That's what good friends are for.

Today, all that changed.

Mid-day maybe a Wednesday, the sun was out, hidden behind a few puffs of cloud, nevertheless managing to still bake the pavement. Ron was walking down the drive, without Carl who, according to his father left early. Which was a bit odd, not that it was such a pattern that the two left together, it'd only been five days since they met. Ron missed the semi-routine. There was a bang behind his house, followed by another, and one more after that. Ron turned around and headed to the noise. He, nervously snuck around to the backside of the houses and turned the corner to face the noises.

Then, he was hit by several emotions he couldn't bring himself to explain. First of all, jealousy. Then what appeared to be envy, a cold forest green envy. To top it off was some minuscule form of despair.

Above him were Enid and Carl, just about to jump the steel walls that encased the town in its fertility. Both were smiling as the dropped down to what lied below.

He watched Enid's smile as she paced slightly ahead of him. Carl was in limbo with his friend. The sun shinning on the pair but surrounded in the scent of rotting meat and reanimated corpses.

"I didn't realize how much I missed all of this." Carl said softly, letting the words flutter off his lips.

Birds didn't dare Chirp in this world, not with walkers roaming about. It was just the two of them, shuffling through the high grass with the subtle hum of insects.

"Do you ever think that we can get rid off all of them?" Enid asked.

"I don't think it's possible but they all have to rot eventually."

"Then what do we do?"

"We…rebuild, get cities running again, grow the population."

"Oh"

The pair continued, walking through the brush, stopping every so often to take a drink or pull off a tick. They eventually came to a rather bulky log, in which they decided it was about time to sit.

"Hey..." Enid spoke in her usual, introverted tone.

"Hm?"

"I know this is going to sound pretty weird and childish but, can we be friends?"

Carl laughed, which nearly came off as a scoff by the sound.

"We're already friends Enid, all of us."

"It's just… none of them have been outside the wall, none of them know what it's like to be a part of.. _.this_ and I feel like that's how we _should_ be, I don't wanna loose that."

He smiled at the notion, "I get that, it's not nearly as peaceful out here for me as it is for you but, I know."

A twig broke somewhere in the distance. Putting the survivors on guard as they spoke. The breathy growl of the dead drew near, not many. Two at best.

"Well, we're out of rations. Wanna go back?"

"I'm ok with that, we missed out on the racing game today anyways." Carl replied.

They stood up, the walker now stumbling into view. Belongings were packed and jackets were regarded. Before they left the site, Enid picked up a medium sized pebble and chucked it into the gaping hole in the walker's stomach.

"Nice, my first hole in one."

"Congratulations"

The trip was quick, but the two sacred every moment of being in the wild, and having the freedom that they once knew.

It didn't take long to get back to the exterior of the safe zone, the real problem was the fact that they needed to get back up without being seen. The perplexed duo thought it was best to just use the front gate. Unfortunately that was not a real option because it was locked from the inside and Sasha was too good of a shot to even attempt to sneak past.

Enid was the lightest so rock climbing up the slits in the metal proved to be less difficult than they thought.

Once she was up it was child's play getting Carl over as well. They rewarded themselves with a satisfying first bump when they hit the ground.

"Friends 'Til we get bit and die?" Enid says, slightly excited

"Friends 'Til we get bit and die, psycho."

Ron stood perched in Mikey's window, picking at the skin on his hand along the cigarette burns. It's been two hours and maybe thirty minutes since they'd left.

"Dude give it a rest, just because they've been gone for like an hour doesn't mean they're neckin' " Mikey snorted with his usual annoying, bubble bursting snout.

"It's been almost three hours, doesn't that seem just a tad bit off to you?"

"The only thing I see that's off is your logic, what do you think they're doing? Killing each other?"

Ron rolled his eyes, putting himself in a pleasant state of mind, something contrary of distress and heartbreak. He thought about the paper chains in his room, waking up to a warm sun on his chest. The glazed Icy orbs, crystal blue. The kinda that made him freeze up with desire.

Ron's eyes quickly snapped back open, a faint red crept into his cheeks as he let out a shaky breath through the fingers of his hand clasped over his mouth.

"You ok man?"

Ron waved him off "I'm fine, I'm fine."

He gulped, the obvious question of 'why?' Lingering about. It wasn't too long before he saw a rope dangling over the side of the

Wall. Enid and Carl jumped down, they shared an… intimate friendship from the looks. Not that looks have ever not deceived Ron but what the hell. He put trust in them, both of them. They just decided to bail out and crush that?

Ron was admittedly, a bitter person. Somehow ending up with problems so complex that he forced himself into thinking that he could tear his way out. Something hereditary from his fathers side is what he mirrored. Now, only a fragment of him reflected his mother's kindness and compassion.

That's the only thing that scares him maybe a bit more than the monsters

The rest of the afternoon was quiet, Carl and Enid exchanged glances meanwhile the angry festered inside Ron, not blossoming, growing, festering, and boiling, until he had his fair share.

"I'm leaving, if anyone asks I don't feel good." He left nearly so abruptly that his aura still lingered in the room.

Not halfway through the walk out of the house he heard Carl's voice.

"You alright?"

"Why do you care" Ron snapped back.

"I just do, it could be contagious." Theres not a day that goes by that Carl doesn't think about that damn prison flu.

"That's nice." He replied once more with the slam of a porch door. Of course, Carl followed.

"Wait, do you want me to walk you home, or I can get your-"

Ron shut him up quick by pushing him up against the house wall and locking him in by putting two arms beside his head, Ron's fingers nearly grazing the ears of the brunette.

"Do me a favor and stay away from Enid."

He had to admit, proving dominance over Carl was initiated partially by lust, also through jealously. He savored every second.

Carl on the other hand wasn't about to hear this little speech, he pushed Ron back with his foot and switched his position, slamming the taller teen against the foundation.

"You need to Chill, nothing is happening between me and Enid. We're just friends."

Once the power was divided and associated, Ron pushed Carl away and headed back home without saying a word. His silence was partly because of anger but mostly due to embarrassment. He couldn't help but feel strange about being pinned down by his friend but, again. That was a feeling left to be sought out for another day.


	4. Gas

Allostatic Load 4

The afternoon dragged on, as usual, carl knew that skipping school had some harsh consequences but regardless, he wanted to get away from all of… that. to take a walk out in the woods, without anyone to bother him. after the adventure with Enid, he realized, truly, that a small part of him that really did enjoy being wild. Space made him feel different, not necessarily safe but secure in a weird way, the more he thought about it, the dumber it sounded. he didn't run into problems while strolling through, there were never too many walkers in the woods theses days, they seemed to hub in the small towns, which made it all the easier to traverse the wilderness. for whatever reason he decided to wander into the parking lot of a nearby gas station, worth a shot to see what's inside. the perimeter looked clean, no trace of the dead, just a truck without wheels and a carjack rusted to the bottom with apparent age.

the windows of the building were coated in grime from wind and weather, he found it nearly impossible to see through. so carl did what Daryl told him about once, back at the prison.

"Ya gotta make a damn ruckus on one of the exits once the dead come knockin' you open it up and tag 'em"

The wise words echoed in his head as He pulled out his machete and used the handle to knock on the front door and waited quietly for the lingering walkers to slam up against the door. it took a while and at one point he could have swore he heard something break behind the building, once he got around back there was nothing but a bed of ivy and a tipped over barrel.

when he revisited the front, a walker dressed in a red polo was trying his best to break the glass of the front window. Carl chuckled a bit at the hotdog emblem on the walker's left breast, the laugh lasted for a brief moment when he saw the blood spattered over the chest of the dead man.

carl bit his lip and opened one of the doors. the walker fell forward in an attempt to take a bite out of its potential meal. For a moment, Carl pitied the downfall of the man but, regardless had to face the fact that it was kill of be killed.

The store was not nearly as large as it seemed but packed as it could be. there were quite a lot of snacks left dusty on the shelves, it would appear that whoever was running the place before the pandemic managed to stock up on the goods. The most abundant of the items left were gummies, corn nuts, and very stale, out of date soda.

Luckily, Carl's personal stash of things was able to barely fit in his backpack. For seemingly hours Carl eyed down the chocolate isle. From the events of last year, he didn't think he could handle anything chocolate related due to the pudding incident. Cringe worthy to say the least. He settled on taking it for the greater good for Alexandria, his own fancy title really tied the knot on the decision. He was about the leave the shop when he heard something move behind the counter followed by a line of soft swears. Carl, who was now on edge, slowly approached the counter wielding his weapon ready to strike. He bent over the counter slightly and saw Ron on his ass sitting, smack dab in the middle of the floor, with his face and torso covered In weeds and dirt.

"C'mon man, you can't do shit like that." Carl gritted.

"I-I'm sorry! I wanted to see what you were doing! I saw you leave and climb over the wall and I-i got curious!"

"Keep your voice down, we're not alone here..."

Ron regained his posture and grabbed at his upper arm, a pitiful look plastered on his face as they walked out of the station.

The walk home was actually quite worse, the tension between the two seemed to shatter Carl's harmony, so instead of trotting through the woods again, instead they took the main roads back, walking side by side, a few feet apart but close, close enough. Ron gulped, trying to avoid his pathetic attempts to spark a conversation with his peer, who was clearly a tad bit upset.

"Why'd you follow me?"

"I told you, I saw you leav-"

"No" he stopped walking and paused to look at Ron

"Why did you follow me?"

"I, uh, I wanted to talk to you I guess."

Carl shrugged him off and kept walking, His father would have a field day when he got back, It'd taken him an hour to get to the gas station and it'd take an hour to get back, not only did he leave the walls without permission, Ron's presence would be put on his account as well. Maybe some corn nuts would lessen the punishment…

"I… I came to talk to you about my dad," Ron whispered.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing… well, something but, I was wondering if you could help me."

Carl turned to face him. Ron, on the other hand, kept his eyes glued to the ground with his grip on his arm getting stronger. Soon, tears began to well up on the edges of his eyelids.

"C-can I stay at your house t-tonight?"

Carl was a bit hesitant at first but he was sure they'd been around for long enough the Ron's mother would trust Rick, after all, they'd been eyein' each other like two squirrels and an acorn. Ron appeared to be pretty shaken up by whatever was happing at his home. Whatever it was, it took its time to swell up, soon it could become a disaster but Carl accepted his friend's request.

"There's the walls." Ron spoke, averting his peer's gaze.

Indeed, there was the walls, steel and proud.

"We should cut through the woods over here, we can't risk being seen."

Just like Enid showed them, they made a quick up and over On the east side.

Home for Carl had turned into a battle. His father took offense to the fact that his own son potentially put the entire community in danger. He also took the time to personally scold him on one, leaving the walls, two, leaving school, three, endangering the life of another underage citizen, and four, putting his own life in danger. Carl knew he was in for it, neck deep. He didn't even come close to having the supplies to fix this. All the while his father yelled, Ron stood on the porch with his pillow, ready to come in when the time was right.

"Carl, I cannot believe this, I really can't. 's only been a week, one week. but you are out of your damn mind!"

He listened to his father's monolog, fatigued by ever word.

"Dad, I promise I won't do it again."

That, of course, caused his father to become even more irate. His range of emotion went from angry to, resentful, and then guilty that he didn't become the father that he made himself out to be. Carl couldn't help but feel bad for him, everything that they went through to get where they are and The least he could do was cut him some slack by behaving.

"I'm sorry dad…"

His father suddenly pulled him into an embrace.

"I just want what's best for this family."

They pulled away just as Ron began up the stairs to Carl's room, luckily Rick was distracted by his brief father-son moment to notice the teen sneaking up the staircase.

Ron looked around Carl's room, pushing aside some paper chains to look through the window of the attic. The sun rested just beyond the trees. the view was quite extraordinary, minus the wall. The trees gave off a rather fond aura, the beams of light created an odd pattern on his chest, it made him feel content despite his situation.

"Hey man, you want me to grab some blankets?" Carl called, propped against the doorway.

"Sure…" he started

"thanks for this, Carl. I really mean it."

"You guys let me become a part of your group, it's the least I can do."

The pair spent the afternoon handling blankets and maneuvering cushions to create a cave. The sun was setting soon and they were both exhausted. Carl took off his hat and flannel to reveal a black tank top then proceeded to throw them both into the corner of his room. He took his time stretching out. It was nice to lay on something that wasn't dirt and gravel. Along with the fact that he could lay down in the soft pompous array of pillows.

No walkers. No killers. And no storms to keep him awake. Just the gentle fabric enveloping him in the life he once knew.

Ron entered the fort next with his own pillow, he looked quite astonished by the effort they both put in.

"I haven't been in a pillow fort since I was six." He giggling.

"Same here, I don't think I ever wanna get up."

Ron crawled deeper inside and laid a respectable distance away from Carl, twiddling away at a strand of his hair. They both laid awkwardly next to each other until Carl turned to him.

"So, when are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Ron shifted uncomfortably for a moment before slowly sitting up.

"I-I…"

"Well, I mean you really don't have to if you don't wanna, I mean, I'm just curious-"

Ron pulled the corner of his shirt up to reveal a large purple bruise, the outer edges faded and yellow. He cringed at the feeling of his hand brushing against the battered skin.

Carl says up alongside him and didn't hesitate to ask his next question.

"Who did this to you?" He asked sternly. "Who the hell hurt you?"

Ron shifted his gaze away from Carl, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes for the second time today.

"I c-can't tell you…"

Soon he began to sweat nervously, he debated whether or not he wanted to tell Carl about what happened, quite frankly he didn't want anyone else to get involved, especially a friend.

Carl sighed, biting his lip. This had become quite a frequent habit. He laid back and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry that happened," Carl said, resting his hand on his friend's thigh. Stopping his tears.

Ron nodded and laid back in the same manner.

To avoid wasting batteries Carl turned off the flashlight. The tent went dark except for the dim sunlight that shun through the thinner blankets.

"Wake me if you need anything." Carl whispered followed by a yawn, In fact, Carl was also the first to fall asleep. Which left Ron awake to think about what to do, or even where to go. He knew his family was hard to manage, life drew them apart but the dead seemed to bring them together. He was the same as any teenager, there was nothing unique about him. Nothing special, sometimes Ron didn't understand why people liked him, what did they see in him? he was so dry. He couldn't help but somewhat despise his actions and every effort he put into being a decent human. every day now the question he faced was; is it worth it to be alive? He didn't stay thinking long before he caught himself nodding off to the sound of Carl's heartbeat in his ear and the warm air of the fort against his body. Soon enough they were drifting off into their own worlds.


	5. Mornings

Allostatic Load 5

Trigger warnings for domestic violence.

The next morning, Carl was the first to wake. He vaguely remembered having a dream about the jungle, something irrelevant and unimportant. He attempted to prop himself up on his elbows but was pulled back down by a pair of petite arms. Then, It'd all came back, the tent, the gas station, the fight.

Ron.

Carl's eyes snapped down to his waist. The other teen had his arms wrapped around him, grabbing at his shirt with his brow furled together and eyes weary. Dark circles surrounded the area below his eyes. Crusted tears in the corners. Carl didn't have the heart to shove him off, especially thinking about the rough night the kid could've had. so he slowly laid back down into the mass Of pillows as Ron snuggled up closer to him. It created a tingly feeling inside his stomach as the hairs on his body stood up like a frightened cat. Carl really didn't know how he felt about this. On some level, it just seemed so… wrong but contrary it felt so right. He turned to face Ron, mixing their hair together, maybe even tangling it. Light Carmel strands rested on his face as he breathed evenly and contently. Carl scanned his face, so plump and rounded... His eyes traveled down to his lips. Cracked and rough in the middle, pale almost. He pressed a finger to the flesh and watched it move. Ron began to stir, his eyes fluttering open as Carl quickly pretended to be asleep, steadying his breathing and falling limp with only his right eye cracked ever so slightly open.

Ron shifted and looked up, his hair tangled together with his neighbor's his eyes widened as he jerked his body away from Carl. He feels the warmth immediately diminish as his friend leaves his side and scoots away from him.

He can see splotches of red covering his cheeks. He can tell he's either shocked or embarrassed but it's almost like Carl can sense a bit of nervousness from his body language. His eyes flutter open on accident, and he knows Ron sees.

They maintain eye contact for, long then can be said. Sweat begins to bead on Carl's forehead and his mouth goes dry. The first thing that either of them says is from Carl.

"g-good morning.."

Ron looks away and rubs at the back of his neck. The gesture reminds Carl vaguely of Shane in his many times of stress. Ron mumbles a response but he assumes it's also a 'good morning'.

They don't pick apart the fort, frankly, they don't plan to for a while. It left a good nostalgic feeling in the house for the two.

They both change in separate rooms, obviously. Ron comes back to Carl laying on his bed fiddling with the sheriff's hat he normally wears, running his fingers along the golden star.

"Did your dad give you that hat?" Ron says, peeking his head through the doorway. He heard Deanna talking with Rick once about being the town's police force, and how Rick had previous experience in the force.

Carl perks up and puts the hat on, Smirking.

"My dad was a cop before all this, he lost this dumb hat about a million times. He gave it to me after I got shot."

"Y-you got shot?" Ron asks, astonished.

"Yea, hurt for a while but I had good people taking care of me."

"That's good..."

The conversation stopped after that. Ron could tell that the people taking care of him then weren't exactly alive to do it again.

"Do you wanna go downstairs and get some food?"

Both Rick and michonne slept in from the looks of it, there wasn't a trace that they'd left. P

Carl looked in the pantry, the only thing besides malt-o meal and canned fruit was oatmeal. He asked Ron if he liked oatmeal and he nodded.

Carl was still surprised by the fact that the house had running water, so he began to boil a potful.

"How's that bruise holdin' up?"

"It's fine, can we just not talk about it…?"

"Well, we should probably get Denise to-"

"No!" Ron paused, eyes wide. "No…"

Carl looked him in the eyes sympathetically and simply turned away from him, just in time to find that the water had begun to boil. He dumped the oats in and watched them absorb the water.

It didn't take long for the oats to cook. Carl scooped up a reasonable amount and put it in a bowl for his peer.

"Thanks, Carl," He said with a shy smile.

"Do you want anything like brown or cinnamon sugar?"

Ron shrugged, so he brought back both.

After a while as they were eating Carl couldn't help but stare at where the bruise was under his friend's shirt, he thought about anyone who'd want to hurt Ron or why anyone would want to hurt him. He could have hurt himself sneaking over the wall...Maybe it was an accident? or something happened at home, maybe that why Ron was so quick to sleep anywhere else but under his roof. Or why he never lets anyone come past the porch. someone, at home...

he put two and two together.

 _"I came to talk to you about my dad…"_

 _"I c-can't tell.…"_

...That's why he didn't want to go to The infirmary... why he didn't want to go home yesterday but instead stay anywhere else.

Carl slammed down his fork and got up, flinging the door ajar and dashing next door, leaving Ron alone and confused on by kitchen counter with a cooling bowl of oatmeal.

He knocked four times on the door until someone opened up. Daryl stood, with a navy t-shirt and jeans at the front door, toothbrush in hand looking at Carl like he just shot his dog.

"The hell's goin' on?" He asks sternly and Carl tells him straight up that he's there to talk to Carol.

Carl knew what happened with her husband, even though no one directly told him. He'd always see Ed grab her arm and leave fresh bruises on her cheeks and arms. Back then he felt so powerless, but now there was no way in hell he was going to let this bastard get away with hurting one of his friends.

Daryl grunted, disappearing into the house. He hears shuffling and a few yells echoing from the upstairs. Carol appeared at the door shortly after with a soft, beckoning smile and motioned for him to come inside. She sat down on the couch and patterned the cushion next to her.

"What's going on Carl?"

He bit his lip, mind riddled with nervousness.

"I-…"

Carl was almost to the point where he thought that maybe it wasn't best to be known. After all, Ron did want to keep the exchange private. Did he even have the authority to stand for the situation and to become involved in a family matter? Carl quickly came to the conclusion that it was best to be heard and not seen.

"I think Ron's dad might be hurting him..."

Carol stared back at him with her jaw clenched. She let out a sigh and looked to the outside.

"I'll talk to your father and Deanna about this but, are you absolutely sure it's his father?"

"Yes, as sure as I can get."

She nodded and hastily sent him on his way back to the house. The door was now shut. Carl re-entered his house and found that Ron had left. His bowl in the sink, his things still lay in a pile in the middle of Carl's floor.

As he was picking up his friend's belongings he noticed a Polaroid had fallen out of the jacket he wore the day before. The picture was surprisingly quite clear, it was a picture of a child holding onto the string of an orange kite while the other person pointed to the sky. Carl thought nothing of it and put the clothes and such into a plastic tote and walked them next door.

Sam opened up their door with his usual, confused-and-also-extremely-deprived-of-happiness look.

"Could you give these to your brother if you see him around?"

He nodded, took the clothes and shut the door.

Ron had "snuck out" per say (not really, the door was literally open) and headed to Mikey before they had to get to school. His room was filled with the putrid tang of fresh vomit. Ron stopped in the doorway to find that Mikey had fallen ill, the flu presumably. He was sleeping, eyes closed with an ice pack on his head.

Ron's smile inverted once he knew that they all weren't going to be able to hang out together. He really just wanted to talk to Enid at this point.

He looked just about everywhere for her, except outside the walls and there was no way in hell he was going back outside the walls, and it wasn't exactly an emergency…

Soon enough, he gave up and went home, unfortunately. The front porch lights were on indicating, at least, one of his parents were home.

He saw the Silhouette of his mother in the living room so, it seemed safe enough.

Or so he thought.

 **Please give me feedback I don't know what I'm doing :)))))**

 **(There will be smut soon for that one reviewer)**


	6. Doors

Carl awoke next morning to the sound of laughter downstairs. Of course, he went to investigate and found his father in the kitchen covered in spit up from Judith, Michonne, on the other hand, was helping to dry his shirt and giggling.

"I thought she was out of that phase?"

"Oh don't worry she is, she just doesn't like creamed corn," Michonne said between breaths.

Carl let out a chuckle of his own and went to get some cereal.

"Oh Carl, tonight Deanna is having a get-together and she wants us all to be there as a family," Rick said.

"I guess I'm fine with that, it's not like I made plans."

"Good, I'm going to need someone to fall back on after all this adult junk," Michonne added.

Carl shrugged, and went back to making breakfast.

"I heard you were looking for me last night, what's the problem?"

"Uh… it's about us…"

"What about us?"

Ron fumbled with his words, his nerves nearly getting the best of him as he sat on the bench next to his soon to be the former girlfriend.

"I think I'm breaking up with you right now, yea... That's what I meant... Or mean..."

Enid looked back at him, confused slightly.

"Ok?"

"That's it?"

"Uh, yeah. I understand you want to go for Carl, it doesn't bother me much, I get it."

"W-what! No!" Ron said, turning away from her and shoving his hands into his pockets a soft flush covering his cheeks. She wasn't wrong but she sure as hell isn't exactly right either…

"You too seem close and I don't wanna get in the way of that, frankly you two should hang out more, get to really know each other, so if that's what you want then, ok."

So many thoughts were running through his head, why was Enid so quick to jump the gun on getting him off her back? did she really think that he wanted to be with Carl? Did... Did he want to be with Carl? He never enjoyed being with Enid much just because their concept of friendship wasn't that far away from having a genuine relationship, but was that what he called love?

"Do you need a hug?" Enid said, surprisingly enough.

"I think..." She pulled him into an embrace patting his back awkwardly. He leaned in closer but pulled away as he saw Carl walking down the drive.

"Ima go…" he mumbled, making a quick abscond to the solar panels.

Enid looked back seeing Carl approaching and shrugged.

"Is he ok?"

"Sure, if you wanna call it that." A smile formed on her thin lips.

Carl sat down next to her and sighed.

"I'm just worried about him, he's having problems at home."

Enid's smirk faded, she knew about the Andersons, as did most. Even she found herself caught in the grasp of his father, Pete. Only because she was trying to see Ron. Well, she did climb through a window and broke a picture... She couldn't bear to sit around and watch that family become what it inevitably will be in the future. Not that it was something she could change.

The bastard thinks he's untouchable just because he's the head doctor of the community. He'd hurt anyone that tried to step in between him and his wife.

Enid clenched her fists.

"I know…"

She scowled, facing away from him.

"Don't hurt yourself, Pete can be… really something."

Carl nodded and put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're gonna figure it out."

They sat there in silence for, the longer that can be said. Both of them seemingly in their own thought bubbles, the evident citizens moving around them. Carl removed his hand ( which had admittedly begun to sweat) from her shoulder. The smell of fresh cut grass lingering in the still air.

"Are you going to Deanna's party?" Carl said, breaking the silence, as usual.

"Probably not, Nicholas is going to be out for the night which means Mikey and I are staying home."

"Yea, lucky you. My Dad is among the few who are encouraging me to socialize again."

"Well, that kinda sucks if you see it in a bad way."

"I'm gonna go look for Ron, see if he's ok," Carl said, getting up.

"Oh, and if you do find him. Tell him I said 'carpe diem'."

"Sure…"

He walked off the scene and to behind the solar panels. not there. Maybe, he doubled back to Mikey's? No, he wouldn't, the flu and all. It's a possibility that he just went home...

Carl made an effort to save time and jog to the house. He knocked on the door and for the second time, his brother appeared at the door, this time with a pencil in his hand and a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I'm here for your uh, brother..."

The kid nodded, opening the door further to let him in. He pointed to the stairs, obviously he was in his room. Carl thanked the brother who's returned to the living room to continue his drawings. Carl began to head upstairs. He didn't know which room was Ron's, having not ever stepped foot in the house.

And oh did he find out soon enough.

A low growl was heard from the end of the hallway the door on the right was left ajar for the viewing pleasure. Before Carl was able to knock he heard another sound, this one breathy, needy and filled with passion

Despite morals, Carl cracked the door open just a hair wider and peered in. He could only see the top of his friend's hair, at first, then Carl's eyes scanned down to his mouth. He was Bitting down on this skin, hard. Hard enough to break the skin and clearly be a visible wound. He could see his arm moving but, where? His eyes skipped his entire torso and landed on Ron's crotch.

Carl sucked a small, shaky my breath in as he watched his peer appeared to be, touching himself. Every image that he saw from then on was impossibly sinful. He watched as Ron bucked his hips and sunk his teeth deeper into the flesh of his hand with his other working fast around the tip. Carl observed the process, base to tip or bottom to top. He'd never see anything like this before. His own member began to harden at the sight. Pressing up against the rough fabric of his jeans. He cringed. A feeling boiled in his stomach, nausea. At this point, he was really just going to forget that he ever came to the house in the first place. he could practically taste the tension in the air, it made him too uncomfortable to say. Carl finally pulled himself away and ran down the stairs. Sam saw him run and leave and became a bit concerned.

Ron had heard the floorboards creak and perked up, immediately covering his lewd body. He got up to close his door soon after seeing that no one was there. Thinking nothing of it.

Seconds later he heard the stairs creek once more. He hastily threw on another shirt and pulled up his pants, pushing his hair behind his ears and picking up a comic book, pretending that it was the most interesting thing that could fall into his grasp.

"Ron…?" Sam whispered, poking his head through the door.

False alarm, brother.

"Ugh Sam, what do you want?"

He sighed, annoyed that his brother had to barge in with apparently no good reason.

"Did you make Carl upset? He just ran back home."

Ron paused.

"W-what?"

"He came upstairs to see you. Did you say something mean?"

"Sam, Carl never came up here..."

"yes he did, he walked upstairs."

Ron just _stopped_ , dropping the comic. not moving not breathing, he just stared down at the backside of the book.

The main reason why I changed this chapter was because of the reviewer who actually made a pretty good point and I felt as if the story would progress more naturally if I cut the semi-smut scene, for those who came here for smut and can't wait, then? I'm sorry? XD it's a semi-slow build, it'll get there.

as for future updates, I'm not sure when I can get new chapters uploaded because I've got a few major projects running in my classes because I missed a huge chunk a school so, yup. that's a thing that happening, but criticism is accepted.


	7. Drinks

**A/N For those who have note seen yet, I changed the ending of the last chapter. :)**

-=0=0=-

Carl was absolutely losing it, this was wrong, so very very wrong. He wasn't supposed to spy on his friends! That's not what friends do, that's just so, creepy.

Deanna's party was due at sunset and the day had already gone by so quickly. Carl really didn't know if he was ready to face Ron so soon. Hell, they hardly knew each other… he didn't know jack shit about Ron but somehow Ron knew a bit more about Carl than they both thought.

An angry huff escaped Carl's lips as he threw aside the clean clothes and dug around to find something flattering for the evening. He'd depended on a simple blue plaid for so long that any other form of wardrobe was unthought of. After digging around in the closet he settled on a red flannel with a casual black tank under, not far from the routine necessarily but definitely a chance to show that he did have somewhat of a sense of style. Now that he was actually in a world where style mattered again, the shirt would be covered in blood, guts, and anything else that lingers outside the walls. He missed having the smell of laundry detergent stick to his skin after the clothes were done the washing.

He /really/ missed that feeling.

And he was really going to miss the party as well if he didn't start walking.

-=0=0=-

Ron paced the room, eager for his little brother to quit complaining about his mother's choice of attire, Sam was quite upset about the fact that he couldn't wear his superhero t-shirt to the party.

Frankly, Ron just wanted to tell the little squirt to suck it up and deal with it so they could just leave and not be late, he really really wanted to see Carl and finally, get a chance to have a genuine moment alone together outside of their education.

They've got some things to…work out. Sam really didn't have any regard towards people with actual urgency. The kid was in his own damn bubble, constantly.

"Sam come on, mom is waiting for us downstairs."

Sam let his brother practically drag him down the stairs. Their parents were waiting at the door, his dad finally sober for once, presentable enough. Their mother smiled back at her children.

"You two be on your best behavior alright? And please Try not to get into trouble."

They both nodded and want to walk to Deanna's

-=0=0=-

The lights inside were brighter than anyone had ever seen, the grimes family arrive a bit fashionably late, Carl looked around the party finding that they'd set up Christmas lights and all sorts of foods on the table, candles, beer, companionship. It's all too surreal. He gently touched the edge of the table running his fringes around the smooth polished edges as if the table was the sharp blade of a machete. He then took a cracker and savored the buttery taste. It's been so long since he'd seen that much food. Laid out for the taking. The house soon filled with guests. People congratulating him and Rick on making it safely to Alexandria. The residents seemed to fall in love with Judith. People here had time to love. To feel emotion, Carl envied that but now that he was he, he could and would be given the chance to feel too.

The adults drifted into their own cliques with the survivors which left Carl to wander outside and sitting down in the grass next to the lake. He listened to the hum of crickets and the low breeze. The night was one of many that exposed the stars. Since city lights were no longer able to function the sky was visible, even if there were a few clouds. The stars looked as beautiful as ever.

Carl raised his hand and traced where he thought the constellation Leo would be.

A pair of feet appeared just out of vision on his right side. He turned to face the figure, his smile faded. Instead, above him, Ron smiled back.

"Hey, man."

"Hi…"

He sat down next to Carl looking up at the stars

"Do you think we could ever find a telescope?" He said, laying back in the grass.

Carl shrugged, looking away from his peer and back up into space. He tried to block out stubble movements such as Ron's breathing and shifting.

"I came here to… apologize actually."

"What for?"

"Well, uh… there's the thing, Sam said you came over, and ya know… came upstairs."

"Oh…" Carl cringed, again at the mention of the previous encounter.

"S-sorry you had to, you know, see… that."

"Ok…"

The two awkwardly looked away from each other. Ron knew that his actions probably destroyed their friendship. Carl would probably find him gross and then never want to talk to him again. He scolded himself for being so stupid to leave the door open and to be openly thinking about Carl like that. God, he couldn't even keep one friend, that's disappointing... Well, on the other hand, it was Carl's fault for looking, and same could have just said that he was busy. Maybe finding someone to blame isn't the best solution…

Carl leaned away from Ron and closed his eyes listening to the grass rustle against his ears and then before he knew it someone had pinched his neck, hard. Ron had gotten the same treatment and they both sat up immediately

"E-Enid!" They said, partially in unison.

She simply waved back with a small, wicked grin.

"What's up dorks?"

Ron shrugged, leaving Carl to explain.

"We were just star gazing."

"Mm, interesting."

She laid down, literally in the small space between The two boys. Carl showed her the constellation Leo and then traced over Cancer. Enid was particularly interested In stars, she said she enjoyed them because they all look the same from far away but every star is beautiful up close. Carl found this statement to be somewhat moving.

"So, you guys wanna play a game?"

"Does it require us to go over the walls?" Ron said.

"No."

"So, what is it?"

"Here, hold on." They watched as Enid walked through the front door of the party, returning a few minutes later with a bottle in hand. As she drew closer it was clear that the contents were liquor.

Ron shook his head. " if it involves alcohol count me out..." they all understood his hatred towards the drink.

Carl shot him a sympathetic look while Enid shrugged and opened the bottle, inhaling the bittersweet aroma.

"We'll play, never have I ever."

The two boys looked at her confused. Carl knew that if the game involved alcohol his father would strongly disapprove, scratch that, if Rick found out he would be disowned. Ron looked more intimated then anything.

"Well, if you guys are gonna play we've gotta get away from the adults."

"How about the attic at my place?" Carl said, rather nonchalantly.

"Sounds good, porch-dick won't be there to bother us and you're parents are nice."

The trio ran to Carl's home and up into the attic. The fort still intact and ready if anyone were to stay over. Enid put three pillows in a circle and turned on the lantern on a small crate where she set the bottle of whiskey. The boys sat down in the circle and pulled at the loose nails in the floor while Enid smiled back rather devilishly. Carl was concerned that she had the knowledge of a game that involved liquor, but it would be rude to involve himself in her past life.

"H-how do you play?" Ron stuttered.

"Well, each one of us asks the group a question like 'have you ever played hide and go seek?' And if you have you lower a finger and take a sip of this bad boy." She said, holding up the bottle.

"So? Who's going first?"

The boys exchanged looks. They were both a tad bit uncomfortable with the whole situation as a whole but, leaving now would be embarrassing and they both knew Enid would never let them live it down. The consequences kept them a tad fearful but curiosity had overtaken that.

"Well, I guess I'll go," Carl said, raising his left hand. Tugging at the leather brim of his boots nervously with his right. He thought a lot about his question, should he ask if they'd ever eaten an exotic food...? or something pre-apocalyptic? post-apocalypse might be too much...

"Uh… have either of you ever had straight A's?"

Carl remembered middle school being unbearably easy, A's were never a real problem. Before the virus hit he got his report card, lo and behold, a straight line of good grades.

Both Ron and Enid lowered a finger, she opened up the bottle and took a good swallow of the liquid, then, handed the bottle to Ron. Who followed in her footsteps. They both cringed at the aftertaste, bitter.

"Have you ever broken a bone?"

Carl didn't raise his hand but, Enid was the only one who did. She shrugged and threw back.

An hour had passed and it was now rather late in the night. Slurred a speech echoed throughout the room. Enid had thrown up and passed out in the bathtub. The boys put a blanket and pillow in there as well, so they didn't feel too bad. They continued playing the game but Ron figured they had enough liquor due to the fact that he could no longer make out how many fingers Carl was holding up. Carl, who was significantly less intoxicated tried to coax his friend into laying down. Ron refused and kept playing, he was, at least, a happy drunk. Unlike some other members of his family.

The smell of straight up liquor filled the air like fog, engulfing the two teens in a drunken aura.

"H-have *hic* have you had… your first k-kiss yet?" Ron slurred.

"No, no, no, haven't met anyone…"

Ron shrugged and flopped down on the floor with a thud, the bottle fell and spilled the little liquid left over the wood.

"Dude... Don't you wanna lay d-down with me?"

Carl was hesitant but sat down next to his friend's Limp torso. He could feel a light sweat break out on his neck. Ron leaned in and wrapped his arms tightly around Carl's waist and hugged him. Tears dripped from Ron's eyes and onto his jeans.

"You p-promise not to leave me r-right? I don't wanna be alone…"

Carl couldn't help but pity him. His stomach began to twist and turn, maybe from the alcohol. He awkwardly patted his friend's hair, then running his fingers through.

Ron looked cute, even if he was crying and Carl felt ashamed to noticing this. The way his lips were red and parted. His grin slightly lopsided.

Ron pushed his body closer and closer, displacing his friend's balance and forcing Carl to the floor.

"Ron! Wha-"

He completely laid out his body on Carl. It's not like he'd never felt weight like this before but it felt larger than the last time.

Now he felt really queasy, his head was spinning. He pushed Ron to the side so he could breathe. His body rolled off and onto a small pile of blankets. Ron grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to his face...

-=0=0=-

 **Cliffhanger :0 bc I'm lazy and it been a while since I've updated. Geez, school.**


	8. hello

Allostatic Load 8

Ron Leaned in closer, inch by in and Carl's gaze was dead set on his lips. So plump and round unlike his own. He was always so frequently dehydrated and never bothered much with skin care, He automatically assumed that Ron was someone who frequently used Chapstick. This was beside the point, of course, the two were mere centimeters apart and curiosity took over Carl, he wanted to know so bad what it felt like to be close to someone but, he felt horrible taking advantage of his friend even if they both wouldn't remember this in the morning.

Fuck it.

Carl grabbed the collar of his shirt and puckered his lips, the room was already spinning but he felt unbearably nervous. He didn't know anything about kissing… well... Anyone. His first kiss was from Sophia back at the quarry and that was only on the cheek. This, this was different. Carl's lips were puckered tight but Ron managed to coax them to open sloppily, snaking his hands slowly around the other teen's neck. He took the lead, moving his hips. This kiss only lasted a few seconds before they both pulled away. Carl was breathing heavy, he pressed his fingers to his lips, grazing across the wetness, he grimaced at the feeling. They laid out on the floor for a few minutes and the more Carl thought about the guiltier he felt. God, he was such a prick.

Ron simply looked up at the ceiling and stared, he didn't know if he was drunk or sober. He felt so alive... But his current state of arousal was embarrassing. His cheeks red and a tent in his pants made it all the more ridiculous.

"I'm sorry," He said out of instinct.

Carl didn't respond, he just laid, unmoving with his eyes shut. Ron came to the conclusion that he had just fallen asleep but no, He had heard him but, being placed in the situation that they were in Carl just didn't say anything, he didn't want to make it worse than it already was. The night eventually got to the two and they fell asleep.

Enid was the first to wake up. She found herself submerged in a puddle of rather strong scented drool, whiskey and vomit were the two most precedent scents. After a few minutes of waking up, she realized that the cold ceramic surrounding her was a bathtub. A purple quilt covered her torso.

She didn't call out to who or what could have been in the house, it all seemed like a surreal nightmare.

She moved out of the tub and began to examine the bathroom. In the medical cabinet held a pair of barber scissors, this was her choice of weapon for the moment.

The house appeared to be secure, it became clear that this was Carl's place as soon as she found his parents fast asleep in one of the master bedrooms. The first thing she remembered was the party, the stars, and the attic.

Carl and Ron, shit.

She ran began opening doors at random until the attic prevailed.

The two boys were sprawled out on the floor, entangled in the each other's arms Carl's head nuzzled up into the crook of Ron's neck. They were both snoring contently. She moved closer and saw their hips rutted upwards. She scoffed, accidentally waking Ron up.

"H-hm?"

She put her hands up in defense and backed away

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, wake ... You guys."

He looked up at her and gave a soft smile, then looked down to his side only to be horrified.

"W-what..?"

Ron began to scoot away from his Friend. He put his hands over his flushed face and gave a small huff of embarrassment. Soon after he attempted to stand with the help of Enid and nearly fell. Their feet were woven together. Suddenly, Ron went pale and hastily covered his mouth.

"Bathroom," He muttered between his fingers.

The next few minutes were spent in the grime' bathroom spewing. Up whatever contents were left in his stomach with Enid's hand laying Idle against his back.

"Are you ok?"

Ron stared into the bowl, flushing it for the second time. Tears began falling from his eyes.

"I don't remember anything... God, I'm so dumb."

Enid stayed silent.

"Why the hell did you make me drink...why the hell didn't you not let me go home..."

Again, nothing was said, just silence.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" He turns around and spits. She stares into his hazel eyes, unmoving. Not even a second later he raises his hand and brings it down on her plump cheek.

She gets up and looked at him in shock. He had the audacity to hit her after everything that she'd done for him.

With that, she turned and left. Ron didn't follow. He clenched his hand and began to cry into his palm. It was never his plan to hurt anyone... He never wanted that, especially not to Enid. There was so much shame lingering in his head. He fell back against the tile, feeling even more nauseous before. After a while he heard the grime' family walk downstairs so Ron figured he'd leave and isolate himself a home today, no one would want to see him today anyways.

Going home, he realized that the front door was left ajar. He hesitated for a moment before moving closer. There was noise coming from the living room, the sounds of flesh on flesh and breaking glass. He stepped inside a draft following. His mother's voice came out of the blue telling someone to step off. Ron snuck around the corner in the living room to find Carl's father, Rick, fighting with his father. The two were grunting and throwing punches, a fistful of Rick's hair in his father's hand. His mother was on the sidelines with tears flooding her eyesight. Her left eye was tinted a dark purple with a bright red ring. Ron became infuriated, not with his father but with Rick. Why the hell had he woken up so early and come over?

Although he was upset he didn't dare step in between the two men.

They stumbled backward grabbing at objects to throw at the other. His father's face rose-red and his hands, trembling. It had become clear that he started drinking early.

He drew the line when they crashed through the front window.

This drew the towns attention to the Anderson household. People began rushing out of their houses and into the street. Creating a circle around the two fighters. People were yelling for Deanna and watching the two fight for dominance. Blood began to ooze out of scrapes and down each other's cheeks. Pete flipped the tables and put his hands around Ricks' neck, choking away the air in his lungs. Jesse tried to pry Pete away but his fist only swung around to hit her again, knocking her to the ground. His brother cowered away behind a member of Ricks group.

The fighters switched once again.

Carl came out of his house and rushed over to his father, attempting to pull him away, in the same way, Jesse had. He was abruptly shoved to the ground. Ron crossed the battlefield and ran to his friend's side, along with Enid who had literally come out of nowhere.

They carried him further from the cul-de-sac and into a grassy area.

"A-are you ok?" Ron stuttered, scanning Carl's body for any cuts.

His friend looked away and wheezed a small yes, putting his hands over his stomach

The group drew their attention to Rick. Blood soaked clothes and sheriff jacket. The red covered the small gold badge that used to symbolize justice, but this was not at all just. He began yelling and pointing his weapon at the crowd. People backed away with their hands raised while Deanna tried confronting him. But he only went on, interrupting her.

"We need to control problems like this, we can't afford to have people inside the walls with the intent to harm!"

Carl pushed himself up on the grass and began to head towards his father again, he could see his chest tighten as if he was holding his breath. Ron grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back.

The other woman, Michonne came wandering to the scene from the gates. She says her… partner and began to rush him, one fist raised. Rick must not have heard her coming because she'd clocked him so hard that it'd sent his body to the ground almost instantly. She wiped her hand on her own uniform, sighing.

And just like that, it was over.


	9. wounds

Allostatic Load 9

Carl felt his friends hand on his head, shifting the ice pack over to the side. The two sat on a cot in the infirmary for quite a bit, Enid insisted that he be checked out for a concussion. She'd been ignoring Ron all morning, for obvious reasons. After his persistent attempts to talk to her, she left abruptly, leaving the two boys alone in the guest room of the doctor's house.

Enid was not the only one to ignore Ron this morning, Carl was acting rather timid as well, his attempts to talk to his friend were brushed off with short and quick one word answers or a grunt. No matter what he thought, Ron couldn't put his finger on something that he would do, or did, that would upset Carl.

"Are you ok?" He asked, moving the ice pack to the other side of his friend's head.

"Yea."

"No, I mean, you're acting really weird."

Carl gave him a face and blew the short brown curls out of his face.

"I'm f-fine."

"Would you tell me if something happened?"

"I guess…"

"Did I do something wrong?"

Carl paused. He could feel hesitation lingering in the cool Air. His peer soon looked him straight in the eyes, an unavoidable move.

"Last night we played a game... we all drank and..."

He stopped once again with his face flushed red.

"It got a little crazy and you... you.."

Ron was waiting on the edge of his seat. Waiting for the words to describe, pondering his actions of the night before. His hands began to tremble ever so slightly... With questions running through his mind like a muddy stream, thoughts getting caught in the banks.

"... Nevermind, what happened, happened. You didn't hurt anyone, can you just... pass me the water?"

Ron gave an annoyed sigh.

"I'm sorry..." He said out of a habit of his father's demands. The pit of his stomach started to grumble out of hunger. What the hell was the big secret anyways? If he wasn't going to find out from Carl he was going to find out eventually.

"If you won't tell me I'll go ask Enid."

"I think it would sound better coming from me..."

"Yea, well spit it out then!

"...Ron, you kissed me."

Pause.

The two looked at each other.

Ron didn't believe him at first but, the look on his face seemed so genuine… no, His first kiss was supposed to be with a pretty girl, not the son of the person who almost killed his father, his best friend... No, not like this. He didn't want to ask if he was lying or not, he didn't want to know if it was real. Something deep down already confirmed that.

"And I really liked it too..." Carl said, somewhat taking advantage of the situation. He'd already started the conversation, it couldn't get any worse. His friend was drunk but he didn't want to keep the truth from him. That would be unfair to the both of them. The scariest part was that they hardly remembered.

Ron, felt himself gravitate towards the cot as Carl began to sit up as well, neither of them had any idea of what they were doing. Carl justified his motives by wanting to feel alive for one last time if he were to be devoured or shot or worse... One last time he wanted to be close to someone. Ron made him feel so comfortable, so real. Maybe he was just being selfish everything he'd done for his friends here was to benefit himself.

While Ron, he wanted to love he wanted to feel what everyone else felt, the feeling of knowing that someone loves him, cares enough to hold him in their arms, to cradle him and tell him it was going to be ok.

The two leaned in, breath getting warmer and body's flushed with color. They pressed their lips together. The heat of the moment caused the two to shake, adrenaline pumping through their bodies. Ron became rougher and rougher with the other teen. He wanted more than what was bargained for and boy, was he going to get it.

The cot began to shift due to the displacement of weight. Carl caught himself before the bed fell over, breaking the kiss in the process. Momentarily a small string of saliva connected their lips before breaking apart and drizzling down their chins.

"Do you trust me?" Ron asks.

"Depends on what you mean," Carl replies, standing up and pushing Ron back.

"I want you to feel something."

Ron moves back to the door of the infirmary and slowly pushes the nightstand up against it. The books supply a heavyweight.

"Let's do something fun... You up for it?"

Carl nods, almost hesitant but giddy, he wanted to know what Ron was planning.

The other teen circled his friend, looking down at him with his lips tugging upward into a small grin.

"Are you ok if I touch you?"

Carl nods once again, at a loss for words.

Ron drops down to the floor, knees first. He looked up at the brunette innocently and softly laid a hand on his crotch. Rubbing up and down on the denim.

"M-mmm..."

"Is this ok? Or do you want me to stop?"

Carl refused to look down at him but gave a quick thumbs up before putting his hand in his mouth to muffle the noises. The hands caressing his body felt so perfect. goose bumps rose in response to the movement, causing him to shiver.

Ron gently wrapped his fingers around Carl's hardening member. Soon he found himself unbuckling the belt of his peer and tossing it aside, eagerly pulling his cock out from under the two layers of fabric. Carl grunted, moving his hips upward and bracing himself on the wall.

Ron embarrassingly licked his palm, to serve as lubricant and began pumping slowly up and down the shaft.

The two found themselves breathless and shaky. Carl bucking up into Rons hand as he ran his thumb up and down the underside of his cock.

Carl thought he could contain the pressure building up, he tried so hard to hold it off but quickly came into Ron's hand as he delicately ran his fingers over the tip.

In the end, Carl had slumped down against the wall, knees trembling while Ron stared at his fingers that were covered in cum. He looked around for a box of tissue or something rather. Upon finding nothing he stuck the digits in his mouth and began to suck off the salty cream, the taste was admittedly gross but satisfying to know who the owner was.

Carl didn't wait long before leaning in and capturing Ron in a genuine hug. He wanted to whisper a 'thank you' or a sorry but alas the words seemed to be caught in his throat. The hug was the only confirmation of affection that he was capable of giving.

"I-i think I might love you, man..." Ron says, squeezing Carl back.

Of course, neither of them said anything after that, just silently holding each other in a blissful embrace. They pulled the cot closer and laid down on either side. Taking In the lustful scent in the air while it lasted. Soon after Denise entered and checked over Carl one last time to confirm that there was no immediate damage done, Then sent the boys on their way.

Jessie called out to Carl from her porch, inviting him in to stay the night because they had quarantined his father. He understood why Rick was way out of line.

Carl accepted her offer but, said he'd be back with some clothes and a pillow to stay over. The house was unlocked, Michonne must still be at Carols so he hadn't thought much about the silence, in fact, it gave him time to lay down on the couch and think. He took off his father's hat, laying it down on the coffee table then running his fingers through his many locks of chocolate colored hair.

As before Carl pressed two fingers to his lips as if they were lips. The feeling of such bliss came rushing back and for the first time in a very long time, he smiled.

That smile quickly faded when a pair of slender hands wrapped around his face, moving his mouth and forcing a cloth over his mouth as he faded unconscious.


	10. gone

Allostatic Load 10

Ron waited patiently on the couch with his body twisted to face the door. The silent hickory disturbed him, no one had come in or out. By now it was late, his mother had already told him to go to bed and that Carl had probably just gone back to his house and fallen asleep. After all, he looked exhausted but, something felt so... Off.

Maybe it was time to face the fact that what happened this afternoon was a mistake. Ron had pushed his boundaries and possibly made his friend uncomfortable.

God, why was he such a prude? He laid back on the couch and tried to think of something, more positive.

Carl woke slowly to the sound of water sloshing around, his eyes took their time fluttering open to take in the shift in surroundings.

This place was surely not the living room or Alexandria for that matter. This was much different. He could barely make out anything but a brick wall, faintly In the distance. Water pooled below his feet, tinted dark brown with mud and, something slightly red, presumably blood. He quickly found that his arms were restrained above him by a thick rope that dug into the skin on his wrist. Panic soon set in. If a walker were to stumble into him, he had no way of defending himself. It was too dark to see anything anyways. The only visible light was far down coming from a grate of some sort that cast a set of bars onto the muddy water.

"Hello child, you're awake."

Carl's head snapped to his left, or to wherever the voice had come from. The lack of sunlight prevented him from seeing anything. He wanted so badly to pretend that this was a dream but he knew that he hadn't had a real dream since the quarry days.

A light temporarily blinded him as a flashlight was turned on to face him.

The light on his face made it almost impossible to see the mystery behind the torch. But all Carl could make out was a pasty yellow smile with deep and dark holes in the teeth of a man with gritted stubble covered in an odd grease that made his stomach churn and the whites of two eyes staring back at him.

"Are you ready to tell me who your people are yet?"

Carl closed his eyes and shook his head earning a slap from the rigid hand of the man.

"Oh really now?"

Carl turned his head away his hands began to quiver above his head, he was cold, scared and was unable to do anything about it.

"Tell me now girl, I'm not here to waste time."

Carl barely heard the misuse of gender, he was too busy thinking about getting back to the walls.

The man began to hack and cough. Saliva dripped down from his lips as he looked like he was about to break out in a sweat. He gave off the impression that he was going to turn...

"I'm n-not a girl," Carl said shakily.

The man raised his arm once again and smacked his cheek. The putrid smell of the man's fingers made him gag.

The greasy fingers grasp onto the pure locks of long hair and pulled his head down. By now Carl's scalp was burning.

"Tell. Me."

Ron paced around the driveway of his home, he didn't mean to but he debated going to Carl's house to see if he was alright. His franticness drew the attention of some citizens, who asked if he was ok, seeing that a teenage boy was pacing back and fourth in his own driveway at 10:00 at night.

Soon enough he made up his mind and would just go over, Carl is hopeful wouldn't mind.

Hopefully.

Ron rubbed his palms on his shirt and went to knock on the door. He knocked once before the door opened by itself.

Ron looked down. He hadn't noticed the Black footprints covering the porch, ones much bigger than anyone who lived in his house.

The lights were shut off, leaving the house pitch black except for the moonlight. but the footprints trailed into the living room. He cautiously followed them. The trail wasn't long, it stopped at the couch, right next to Carl's signature sheriff's hat.

An object poked at his back, the movement was sudden and he slid back. A shooting pain ran up his back.

"Turn around with your hands up."

Slowly, he leaned forward and turned around.

The woman lowered her samurai sword and put her palm on her forehead.

"You scared the hell out of me kid."

Michonne was her name, the two had never spoken aside from a few "excuse me" or "sorries" and Ron had certainly never seen her with a weapon inside the walls.

She slid the sword back into its sheath and moved Ron to the side. He had been frozen, looking down at the ground and nervously picking at the threads on her jeans.

"I saw Carl walk in here but never come out, do you know anything about that?"

"N-no ma'am!"

She walked Ron over to his house, luckily, the family had still been asleep. He was instructed to stay in the house. But really, there was no way they could keep him from exploiting the walls.

As soon as the woman had stepped out of sight Ron exited the back door and followed her to the edge of the walls.

She looked up at the walls and hesitated for a moment but then gave a small sigh before climbing the first foothold and scrambling up the sides. Almost as quickly as Enid.

After she disappeared he waited for a few, his heart was pounding slowly against his ribs.

Carl was gone and might be scared or trapped somewhere and Ron wanted to be the first person to set him free and to see the look in his eyes...

If he was alive...

The thought made him want to purge but also gave him all the more reason to want to follow Michonne.

Ron had difficulties getting over the side but nearly fell to the ground after reaching the other side.

"You do realize that you're making a bad decision," Michonne called with her back up against a nearby oak.

He gulped. The glare in her eyes made his blood run cold. It was already too late to turn back now.

Twigs and leaves found their way into the beige locks of the teen, he stood up and started to regain his composure. Michonne had left to take care of a few walkers and since Ron was already over the walls it became her responsibility to watch out for him, they both knew this.

After a bit of walking, he eventually caught up to her without getting eaten. Her eyes studied the ground, even though it was dark it appeared as if she was tracking something, like a dog.

Of course, Ron kept quiet, not wanting to disturb the process of hunting or attract any more of the undead.

His hands burned against the rope now the skin must have been ripped off due to the attempted escapes, pain in his stomach made him want to purge. He missed Ron, he missed him so much. He must have thought that Carl had abandoned him or never wanted to speak to him again. This was the other feeling in the pit of his body, guilt.

A sliver of hope told him that his father, Daryl, and Michonne were out there right now, looking for him... He has to stay strong.

 _For them..._

Hi, I've been busy as heck and boy lemme tell ya, I thought I'd lose motivation to do this but Nah, it's still going (or, at least, I'll try to keep it going.) haha.


	11. Girl

Ron swayed back and forth idly watching as Michonne pinched the bridge of her nose, both had been looking for carl, nearly all night, with the acceptation of some breaks. it was dawn now, the sun shuns down on the flaccid grass while the leaves burned bright orange and brown. the pair neared the gates, which towered over all of the debris outside of them, visibly surpassing the heights of the houses around. Honestly, this was the first time Ron was able to understand the true safety of his own town, his family hadn't been outside for long and it's not like they wanted to leave again for any reason.

Eugene was the first to see them, he looked surprised to see them this early especially since he'd been dozing off against the metal. Not the greatest idea.

A walker shambled towards Ron who ran up to Michonne and tugged at her vest. She didn't turn, didn't even flinch even after he called her name. The growls of the creature drew closer and closer,clearly it had no trouble catching up to their walking pace.

"M-Miss!" Ron called for the last time. She let out a low growl then gave in and drew her sword. Pushing Ron's head down and swinging at the walker, decapitating it in one swing. It's head fell to the concrete with a sickening thud. The entire time, Ron's eyes were shut tight he was so scared that even Michonne could hear his teeth chattering.

"Hey now, it's ok. You can let go." She whispered in a soothing motherly tone.

He opened his eyes only to find his arms wrapped tightly around Her torso. Frankly, he was just impressed that her turn radius was large enough to kill the bitter.

Steadily, he pulled away and attempted to regain his composure without apologizing, which he felt somewhat bad about. Just another emotion to add to the pile.

Eugene hesitantly opened the gate and gave Michonne a small nod. they continued walking down the streets until they arrived Rick's home to give him the news.

* * *

the church doors opened, letting the majority of the town inside, mainly just Rick's group and a few of the supply runners. Enid was sandwiched between the man with the crossbow, who looked rather, captivating and Glenn, who Ron had come to know during school, he had helped teach their geography class. She stared blankly down at her palms. Ron, on the other hand, fiddled with the wood on the bench and watched as Rick and Deanna whispered between each other at the front of the room. Everyone else was silent, some biting their lips and others toying with their hair and clothes.

Rick then cleared his voice.

"Its come to my attention that My son, Carl has gone… missing" Ron hated those words, he hated this church. Not to mention his father making him feel so useless being here, Arriving home the reverend told him how stupid he was for going over the walls with the black lady. He wasn't allowed to go and as usual, his mother sided with her husband. Again he was locked away in his room with Sam but, Like the persistent child Ron was, he insisted on going with the search party. But he was forced to give Sam half of his art supplies so he wouldn't snitch.

His father just reminded him how futile he was. Ron was sick and tired of being cooped up inside the walls. He wanted to do something, BE something more than just a petty hopeless teenager. Now all he could do was listen. The adults wouldn't let him tie his own shoes, much let him holster a gun and go outside the walls. He couldn't even defend himself from one walker, pathetic.

"We're starting a search and I'd like to cover a four-mile radius within the hour. A group of 4 in each direction. We'll start with that."

Enid looked across the rows at Ron and gave a small shrug. He felt her resentment from across the room, and boy was it depressing. Without warning someone grabbed the back of his hoodie and pulled him to the right and right out of the pew. He gave a small squeak upon being dragged against his will away from the crowd. No one really seemed to notice either...

His stomach clenched when the attacker spoke.

"The hell'd I tell you, kid?"

Ron swallowed, looking up at his father's enraged face. His body went into a full panic as he began to shake.

"I asked you a damn question!" Pete bellowed but Ron was too afraid to answer. His father's grip moved from his hoodie down to his arm, the skin began to burn under the fabric.

Pete practically growled, the musky scent of bitter whiskey was the last thing Ron inhaled as Pete shoved his son to the ground.

"Worthless piece of trash, can't even follow a simple direction."

His head hit the gutter while his shirt ripped against the concrete. Pete walked away grumbling incoherent dribble.

At first, Ron hesitated to move. His back was craned in such a way against the curb that it put stress on his spine, along with his head which had begun to spin due to impact.

Tears soon began to fall from his eyes as he cowered close to the gutter. No one could help him. Not Rick, not Jesse, not Carl. For all he knew his friend could've already been digested by the roamers or even worse, he could be out there being tortured by who knows who. Ron couldn't imagine how scared Carl could be...

"H-help... Me..."

The voice vexed him so hard that the tears that had fallen almost immediately stopped.

Carl.

"Carl!" He yelled into the grate, his own voice was the first to echo back.

"R-...Ron.." Carl pleaded back from inside the sewers. At first, he thought the voice was just in his head, telling him what he wanted to hear but the coughs and sputters that Punctuated his last sentence told Ron that The situation at hand was very real.

Ron was so happy, he couldn't think straight. The grate was welded to the curb, there was no possible way of cutting through it. But, There was a manhole in the middle of the street, which he went to pull open. No use, the metal wouldn't budge. There was hardly anything of use for that matter to move the circular slab out of its socket. Then again, his mother did have tools of all sorts in the garage.

He ran as fast as his legs were able to his house, passing many concerned pedestrians.

He bolted into the house, blowing past his mother and brother who asked what he was doing, of course, he didn't have the time to explain, he just had to help his friend.

Ron grabbed a crowbar and a flashlight from the workbench and exited the side door.

Spiriting back he found that most of the people had cleared out of the streets near the manhole. Which gave Ron ample opportunity to pry open the slab and climb inside.

The sewers smelled of rotten dairy, grime caked the concrete walls with a watery substance. There was barely any water pooling at the bottom of the well, nothing more than an inch deep. The ceiling was only oh so high, so, to pass through (disregarding the pipes) he Almost had to crawl. Alas, he turned on the flashlight, shining it in all the cracks where the sunlight didn't touch. In his other hand, he held the crowbar close.

"Carl!" Ron yelled without thinking. For all he knew, there could be walkers or God knows what in these catacombs.

There was no response but a small cough echoing from wall to wall. Closing his eyes and listening close, He was able to pinpoint the sound, it was coming from just ahead.

Ron pushed his hair back behind his ears and moved slowly toward the walked for so long that he thought that he must've reached the middle of Alexandria.

"R...Ron..." Carl coughed, not too far away. Ron rushed to the scene only to find a disturbing site.

The room he entered looked like a basin. The ceilings were raised about five feet from the rest of the tunnels. The room was circular but, not all too wide.

In the middle of it all was his friend, hands hanging from the thick rope. The thing that perplexed Ron the most was the pastel pink dress that Carl was wearing. Lace and all, the outfit looked almost Victorian. The only thing out of place were many wrinkles and stray blood. It looked like the dress had been peeled off a roamer before being put on his friend. The edges were torn, making it so the dress exposed much of Carl's thighs. Ron could visibly see the blood that had trickled down his friend's leg... It made him sick to think that a human being could do this to their own kind, much less a youth. Scattered across the floor were countless amounts of beer cans and bottles. Disgusting...

"Carl, I'll get you out... I can just... I can..." Ron stammered, trying to process it all

His friend looked weary, very obviously tired and fatigued, exhausted from putting up a fight. His face was far too pale. Sweat had caused the brunette's hair to stick to his face.

Ron thought about what he could do to cut the ropes restraining him. The crowbar would be of no use...He soon became angry at feeling as useless as before. In an instant, Ron turned around and kicked on of the many glass bottles into the wall.

It shattered upon impact, sending shards of glass in all directions. He had both a rush of adrenaline and an idea, picking up the largest shard of glass he could find, Ron pounced at the thick restraints.

Carl pleaded that he hurry before his captor came back. But, Ron was cutting the rope as fast as his hands could move, his fingers were beginning to dig deeper into the glass. Not to mention the tension that lingered about was enough to cause their bodies to shake in unison.

The threads were visibly ready to snap at any moment, so Ron slipped his leg in between Carl's so he wouldn't fall, he was far too weak to hold himself up.

Not long after, the strings snapped, freeing his friend's bloody wrists.

Carl began to tear up and cling to Ron's waist. It was scaring him quite a bit that he'd never seen Carl so vulnerable and fragile. The lace around his friend's dress was scratching at his ankles.

Ron pulled him close, attempting to comfort and prevent a panic attack. Soon enough The pair headed for the exit, Ron remembered the majority of the turns he made, all they really needed to do was find a ladder to another manhole cover.

That's when they heard it. A loud 'bang' in the distance.

They both froze, eyes locked into the shadows. Metal on metal. A door has opened, somewhere that they couldn't see. Ron gripped Carl's hand and began leading him quietly to the exit. Water splashed against their feet. Making it harder to go unnoticed. They took a turn and found a ladder, leading up to the manhole cover. Ron climbed up the short ladder and mustered up the strength to push the manhole to the side while Carl looked into the darkness waiting for another noise or sign that would put them in further danger. A cold sweat broke out on his back as he began seeing monsters lurking in the dark, surely it had to be his mind just playing tricks on him.

Ron had only moved the manhole a fourth of the way open when they hear a loud scream

 **"NOOO!"**

the echo bounced throughout the catacombs and Ron pushed as hard as he could to try to open the hatch.

Sounds of water splashing drew closer, distant, then closer again. The duo knew that this man had to be twice the size and strength of them. Ron ushered Carl near the exit. After taking two more turns the roughly the dimly lit cave, the ladder came into view.

"I'll open it, and then you'll go first."

Carl nodded.

Ron pushed with all his might on the slab a slid it over just enough so the crowbar could fit through, then pushing it to the side and moving so carl could climb up first. Ron stood at the bottom of the ladder and looked into the deep tunnel to find a pair of bloodshot eyes nearly fifteen feet from the exit.

"bring me back, my little girl…"

Ron clutched the metal bar and started back, completely frozen, hoping that Carl had made it out safely.

The figure moved closer, stumbling, agonizingly slow.

"Bring her back… give me my baby."

He smiled wickedly as Ron backed toward the ladder. In one swift movement, he whipped around and clung to the metal, climbing to the surface. The figure put an excessive amount of effort into sprinting down the catacomb and grabbing His shoe. By this movement, Ron's entire body was shaking with fear as he Clung to the ladder with all his might and kicking at the person holding onto him.

A hand grabbed him and he looked up to find Carl wearily holding onto the curb and attempting to pull him up and out. The Figure pulled on his ankle with twice the strength until Ron turned and shoved the crowbar into his eye.

Scampering out, panting, Ron moved the hatch over the hole once again and the two boys laid on the asphalt as civilians began to pool around them.

* * *

 **A/N I know about the Wattpad fic Lol, that's me,** dont **worry. I'll try to update this a bit more bc i love these two so much i just *sniff*... cant even...**


	12. Return

All four of them stood silently around the bed. Watching as Carl's chest rose and fell with every breath. They'd changed him out of the hideous attire he was wearing before and he now dressed in a baby blue, clean t-shirt.

Denise stood next to him with a small clipboard in her hands. She gave a small sigh and pushed the bridge of her glasses up before delivering the news.

"I'm glad to say that your son is fine and on the path to getting better within the next few days."

Rick let out a raspy breath and then went back to biting his lip.

"The bad news is, upon examination he shows signs of... Sexual... A-assault."

Bruises covered a large portion of his skin but none of them thought that someone would be so evil as to go that far.

Rick left the room after that, far too angry to be around people afterwards it didn't take long until Michonne followed. Ron sat with Enid on the side of Carl's bed. Her hand rested on his as they waited for him to stir.

The tension in the room was all too familiar. Ron wanted so bad to apologize for his actions but he didn't believe that Enid would see it in the same way he did, much less forgive him. But, it was worth a shot.

"Enid...?" He started, pausing when she didn't turn to him.

For longer than Ron expected, they sat in silence.

"I'm sorry for what happened between us."

"Don't pretend like we were something to begin with." Is how she responded, it crushed him to hear this.

Ron opened his mouth to say something but then quickly shut it when he noticed her hands clenching the bed sheets. Not to tightly but tight enough that he got the message to fuck off.

Ron thought a lot in the moments that followed. He was in that room for hours, reflecting on past decisions. Would Carl even wake up? And if so would it be like he came out of a coma? Would he even remember anything? It was nearly impossible for him to think of the good, the events of the day had worn Ron down to the bitter marrow in his bones. All he wanted was some warm tea and amnesia so he wouldn't have to remember all this tragedy.

Without saying anything to him, Enid walked out of the room. Clearly with tears streaming down her face, maybe she was in the same fugue he was, even then, he didn't bother chasing after her. Enid just reminded him so much of everything he hated about himself.

He couldn't even hold a simple friendship.

There was a point where Ron really prayed that Carl would stay by his side. Maybe for his own good but, he just needed something to separate him from the dead.

That night, Jesse was sympathetic enough to let her traumatized child stay in the doctor's house overnight, after all, it was probably the safest place in Alexandria.

Ron brought over a sleeping bag and pillows and slept on the floor beside his friend.

It would've made for a sick ass slumber party if it weren't for the memories left In this room.

Guilt. That was it, not matter what Ron told himself, he was always the one who was needy, rough, overstepping boundaries. It hurt to think that way but he couldn't stop.

Once he was settled in a dreamy haze began to consume his mind. As he had trouble keeping his eyes open out of nowhere something poked at his shoulder, which just about scared him out of his skin.

Ron turned, wide-eyed only to see Carl peering over the bed with his arm outstretched, poking at Ron's shoulder.

"You're awake! A-are you alright..?" He half whispered.

"C-can you sleep up here w-with me...?" Carl replied with his teeth nearly chattering.

"Of course..."

At the moment, Ron didn't care who found them he wanted to be there for him.

So, as requested, he climbed into the bed with the other teen. Carl snaked his arms around his friend's torso and pulled him close. The sheets were just about as thin as they can get and nights weren't exactly as warm as they used to be. Really, he just wanted to feel the warmth of something other than a dim fire, Ron could and would provide that. He stared back at his friend's dusty blond hair and gave a small smile.

Ron reached down under the sheets and grabbed Carl's hands, running his hands carefully across the bandaged skin and massaging his knuckles. Carl purred in response, such a simple action made him feel so docile. Not long after he sat up and turned to face the opposite wall, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it on the pillow behind him then lifting his arms to stretch. Ron sat up alongside him and cocked his head to the side.

"do you mind, rubbing my back?" Carl asked, in the calmest tone he could, inside he was shaking.

Ron's response was a short nod. upon placing his hands on the rugged curvy back of his peer, Carl immediately began to relax, lowering his shoulders and exhaling. His eyes slowly shut as he watched the dancing spots in his vision, putting every bit of attention to the soft movements of Ron's thumbs in his back. Each little circle of the pad reminds him that he was around the people who cared, the one's that wouldn't hurt him.

"Is this ok? it doesn't hurt does it?"

"it's perfect, I can't thank you enough."

"it's no big deal, I think you deserve it."

Ron gave a small smile and slid his hands lower down Carl's back then cupping at his ass tentatively. His peer's body tensed in response, clenching the sheets he let out a small whimper and Ron immediately removed his hands.

"i-I'm so sorry…"

Carl hid his head between his shoulder and began to tear up while Ron debated on if he wanted to attempt to comfort his friend, or if that would make things worse…

Carl didn't want to bother thinking too much about it and flopped back down on the mattress and curled up into a ball, facing away from his peer.

"I-I…-" Ron began

"stay, please."

He obliged and laid down, pulling the covers over the two of them. slowly, resting an arm close to Carl's back. abruptly His limb was pulled by the other teen over his body. They fell to sleep together, Ron before carl, who couldn't close his eyes in fear of flashing back to his previous captor. so really, he didn't fall asleep for a while. Just held tight to the pulsing hand of the last person who could understand.

 **A/N; I'm probably gonna write a separate smut story because really, that what like 60% of the reviews are anyways, so stay tuned for a story on this account, probably just a series of one-shot or something dumb but *shrug***


	13. Buttons

**Uh, graphic violence, mention of abuse and homophobic slurs.**

...

The next morning Ron really wanted to wake up to something like soothing sunshine or the chirping of birds, instead, he woke to the feeling of covers being torn off of his body and the cold morning air, enveloping the tips of his toes and up to his chin. The sheet didn't come off so easily per say due to the fact that both boys had tangled themselves up in them.

"You've got to be shitting me right now." A deep voice rumbled.

A long, dark shadow cast itself across the bed. Ron opened his eyes to see his father standing at the foot of the bed.

His body went into a panic, as usual upon confronting his father while in this state of mind.

"You fucking faggot...my son... Pathetic piece of trash." He bellowed.

Carl began to stir, searching for Ron's warmth and pulling himself closer.

Pete moved to his side of the bed and roughly grasp the boney arm of the brunette, pulling him up on his feet with a strong tug that could and would have nearly dislocated his shoulder.

Carl whimpered, fully awake, looking up at the man with a horrified look on his face as the adult proceeded to rip out the IV embedded in his inner arm, tape and all in one simple flick of the wrist. Carl let out a shriek and collapsed onto the floor.

Ron was so tired to even think about his father's job as the head doctor the night before, boy did he regret it now.

Denise burst into the room along with Aaron, who upon entering drew his gun and had almost shot Pete in the back of the head.

"Now kid, get the fuck out of my office before I have to drag you out." He scowled.

Ron threw himself over the edge of the bed and onto the floor to help his friend. The IV, upon exit, had made the area start to bleed profusely. Deep red rolled down the pale skin of the teen as Ron held his hand. Denise, with wide eyes, had pushed Pete out of the way and fell to the floor as well, applying pressure to the wound.

Aaron began to escort Pete, who knew the full extent of his actions, out of the house with a gun to his back. He'd be lucky to come back at all.

Carl looked up at his peer with pain in his eyes. Not only did his body ache but the IV hurt like hell coming out. Ron could only tell him that it was ok and that they would help patch him up.

"I'm so so sorry this happened, I-I was supposed to be in here first thing this morning but your father got here first... I figured he'd be fine taking care of Carl... God..." Denise stuttered as she unrolled the bandages.

Carl fixed his eyes on her.

"It's not your fault" he breathed slowly "it's his fault being such an asshole." He responded Ron frowned, sure his dad was mean but... That seemed a bit too far.

There was a bit of a break in interaction between the three of them as Carl was hoisted back up into the bed.

"So, are you two a couple?" The nurse said with a soft smirk.

Both boys exchanged flustered looks before shrugging in unison.

She chuckled and left to grab something for the boys to eat along with some painkillers.

The two boys exchanged looks for a moment, the hadn't had much time to think about being a couple, to Carl it's seemed so dramatic but again he didn't know if he was ready to share himself again after what his... Captor left him with, he couldn't take any more bruises and scars, his body was destroyed enough as it was.

Ron, on the other hand, loved Carl, he thought? The time they spent together Was really what he loved most, and every bit of uniqueness his peer showed. If anything, he was just afraid what people would think of him, pathetic he thought, he couldn't Stand up to his father much less someone who actually

Disagreed with his sexual preference.

Alas, His father was what irked him The most. not too long ago he would have been playing baseball with him on a Saturday morning, if this shit virus hadn't arose maybe his father would have still been found of him. Then again, he would have never had the chance to meet Carl.

"My dad 's not an asshole by the way."

Carl looked up at him like he was a peacock in a tuxedo.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that, it almost sounded like you thought your father was a decent human being."

"Well, I mean... He isn't per-"

"Ron, your dad is out of control."

The teen hid his head between his shoulders, maybe there was. Piece of his father that was still.., good, deep down, the world couldn't have changed him this Much, right?

...

Carl had his breakfast, composed of oatmeal with brown sugar and the regular dosage of ibuprofen. The pain had decreased not too long after. The rest of the day was spent away from Carl, not because he was mad but because both his parents agreed it was better for the time being. Of course, Ron despised being away from others and put in an environment where he was forced to deal with his emotions. So, instead of sitting in his room, feeling sorry for himself, Ron dragged himself into his brother's room. If anything this was very much the last resort because although Sam was a pretty upbeat child at times, he was also boring as hell.

"Heya Sammy." Ron said knocking on the door.

"Can you, let me in?"

There was shuffling behind the wood door and his glum brother appeared with very distinct bags under his eyes. Ron almost felt bad until he spoke.

"So, did your boyfriend ditch you?"

Ron fiddled with his hands, looking everywhere else but where his brother stood. Just about everywhere else but his brother. Mostly because he was at a loss for words (and a bit taken aback by his brother's boldness). just about any statement wouldn't make the situation better.

Sam paused then just simply shrugged and went back to his drawing, leaving the door ajar for His brother to enter.

He looked around the room for a moment before sitting down on the floor next to Sam.

"Hey, whatcha drawing?"

His brother looked up and turned the picture around for him to see.

It depicted their family on the roof of a tall building with a bunch of green, brown, and grey stick figures below.

Although it looked very childlike Ron could help but perceive a much more sinister meaning.

"That's... Cool." He said, hesitantly, then in return received a simple shrug.

"Hey, can I maybe color with you?"

Sam looked up at his brother, a bit confused. They hadn't colored or done anything of the sort in ages. He missed the time they spent together. Sammy was Ron's brother and through thick and thin, he was always going to be his brother because they would always have that bond of blood.

Ron ripped out a piece of paper and picked up a pencil, sketching out a cute oak house surrounded by trees and consumed by thick vines. In 8th grade, he loved art and from time to time he would doodle, this was one of the few if any times he got to actually draw. The moment felt so pure and so rare that it almost made Him tear up.

"I love you, Sammy."

And for the first time, for such a very long time. His brother smiled.

...

Carl sat at the edge of the bed with a black button in his hand. He concluded that this morning when the chaos Had erupted that Ron's button had been ripped off his shirt. He really loved small things like thimbles and cool rocks. While they were on the road, he didn't have time to scavenge for things like that. Denise had been so kind enough as to give him some twine to create a necklace of the thing.

She had also discharged him after fixing up the gash on his arm, courtesy of Dr. Anderson. His father came in, not too long after and pulled his son into a tight hug. Rick had become quite teary eyed when Carl explained to him what happened.

When he'd finally pulled his son back into a stable state of mind, Rick did what Rick does and began to seek revenge on the asshole who took his son from his own home. They'd only been in Alexandria for a few weeks and someone was always there to ruin their safety. Rick had disappeared not too long after with his usual crew of badasses outside the walls to find the man who took his son.

So, Carl was left to his own regards. It wasn't a new thing for him to have to take care of himself but he felt sore. Which made it all the more difficult and he really didn't like the plain attire they gave him. For once something was able to feel too boyish. Which slightly concerned him. He didn't want to become what his group called weak, growing used to the society behind walls. Carl knew it was unhealthy but they could all take advantage of it while they still had the chance to.

So he walked over to the gazebo where Enid would normally write, and such.

The area is still swamped with weeds, some that bloomed, others not. It makes it especially difficult to see inside and around.

"Enid? You over here?"

He paused, waiting for her. Instead, it was Glenn who came around the corner.

"Hey! You're up!" He said with a bright grin, in which Carl sheepishly smiled back.

"If you're looking for Enid, I think she's with Deanna."

"Oh, alright. Thanks."

The awkward encounter made him cringe, he hadn't talked much to people outside of his friends.

He wasn't far when he heard Glenn call back once more.

"And Carl."

"Hm?"

"Stay strong." He said. Giving a half smile sort of face.

Carl only nodded and went walking to the headquarters of the town.

Rounding the corner, he came face to face with Enid. Bumping into her, they both toppled backwards onto the brick paving, landing flat on their asses.

"I'm so sorry, are you ok?" He said reaching forward, to which she responded with wide eyes.

"Thank god you're awake."

She springs up and hugs him, being careful not to irritate any bruises.

"What are you doing out of the doctor's house? Did they dismiss you that early?"

"Yea, my body still kinda aces but I-i came looking for you, to ask if you wanted to go on a run."

"Do you think you're ready for something like that so soon?."

He nodded and sat down on the pavement, patting the spot next to him for her to sit.

"Why do you want to go out?"

"I've gotta... Get some more clothes?" He said, almost questioning himself.

"Alright, you have a place in mind?"

"Geez, you ask a lot of questions."

She only shrugged. Carl had seen a map on the way to Alexandria, a strip mall was not too far from the nearest intersection. If they left now, they'd be back by sunset.

"You wanna get your boyfriend or is he too wimpy to leave the walls?"

"Why the hell does everyone keep saying that?" Carl mumbled with ears and cheeks flushed.

"Think about it, you two are just about always attached at the hip, all you do is hang out with each other. You don't even talk to Mikey and me anymore."

"I guess you're right actually." He replied, defeated.

"He needs the training but his parents will kill us."

"I know..."

They looked in opposite directions, hesitating fir a quick moment before turning back with a smirk.

"I know what to do."


	14. Skirts

**A/N :lol hello, school came up and I didn't have time to write anything? wrote this bit by bit over like a month so rip my writing career**

Carl bent down, peering under the gate, the heat radiated off the sidewalk creating a watery effect. They only had a few minutes until Eugene came back from the shift change and for whatever reason, Enid was holding them up. He stood back up again, looking out into the distance, staring at a walker impaled on a stake. He almost zoned out with his eyes focused on the dead man until a small tap on his shoulder made reality come into focus.

"Let's hurry." Enid snapped,

dragging Ron by the arm, lord knew she had an iron grip. Carl looked back and covered his mouth with his hand. Ron looked as if he'd just dropped his ice cream with eyes wide and lips pointed downward.

Enid dragged him along as Carl followed, opening the gate and then closing it in relatively the same position.

They ducked down into the tree line to avoid being seen by anyone on patrol. Enid had brought her bag to fill with all sorts of supplies, unaware of what Carl's true intent was. Needless to say, he was quite excited for this walk, he was hoping that bringing Ron along would boost his confidence for this petty mission.

The trio walked aimlessly with only Carl directing them due left or right. It wasn't much different than any other journey they went on, by the time they had reached the interstate a total of 7 walkers were killed. An easy journey for an easy going group. Miles upon Miles from Alexandria the teens walked upon the never-ending concrete road. The morning haze had basked the day in a much warmer blaze, cracking the skin on their lips. Ron was the first to sport and point out the shimmering roof of the plaza just off of a curling exit. Behind the group walkers had begun to collect, stumbling much slower than the survivors

"Please, Can we just make this a quick trip and get back before someone notices we're gone? Please?" Ron whined, he'd already said this nearly 90 times on the way.

"Of course Ronald, it's just an in and out trip, not a big deal, right Carl?"

He nodded and shoved the map into Enid's bag.

As they approached the large building it was clear that the only reason the roof of the strip mall had been so shiny was because of the heat. not that this was much of a disappointment or anything. The outskirts of the building were shrouded with debris ranging from matted, messy clothes to newspapers dating back to doomsday. All the trash collected in the corners or in little piles of leaves and weeds.

The door to the clothing store was locked tight and bored up, in the same manner, it was practically impossible to break a lock such as that with just their bare hands and some good wit. They needed brute force.

Enid suggested that they all look for a large metal bar or pole to pry the doors open While carl thought it best to search for a side entrance or roof hatch. Ron, he just waited patiently feeling quite bad that he did not have the knowledge or skill set to add to the conversation, so he just stood, propped up against a stone pillar. They thought it best (including Ron) that It would take much less time looking for another entrance rather than to make heaps of nice trying to force the door open. Enid branched off to take the East side of the building while Ron went with Carl to search the west.

"Carl, what are we doing here?"

"what do you mean?"

"I mean, what are we DOING? what reason do we have for being out here alone?"

"We're Capable of handling ourselves-"

"yea, you and Enid are, I can barely hold a gun, let alone shoot one."

"You just don't have enough practice is all, don't be worried, someone will teach you at one point ."

they rounded the corner of the desolate building to be awaited with a door, partially cracked open and ready. Carl went to find Enid as Ron stared into the pit of blackness.

"I can do this…"

he whispered under his breath and pushed the door open. it let out a loud howl as the rusted metal rubbed up against each other. The light barely illuminated the room, it made the dusty glass counter shine just a tad, otherwise, it was quite difficult to see. The boards on the windows needed to be taken off. Ron walked inside. Pushing further into the isles it became clear that this was a women's clothing store, or what was left of it. The racks were covered in dust along with the variety of Blouses and pants. by the time he was halfway through the department it became impossible to see without a flashlight. So he turned back, Hoping to see his friends walk in with a flashlight but instead found a shadow in the doorway. Ron couldn't make out the face, the sun was too bright pianist his eyes but the figure looked like it needed help.

"hey…" he mumbled just under his breath trying to grab the attention of the Shadowy figure.

It moves forward, one foot at a time nearly stumbling over each foot and it's uncut grimy pant legs.

It didn't take long to realize that this thing was not human. The walkers face came into view as if tripped and fell right infant of Ron. He went rigid, Reaching and snatching the walker thrashed at his feet. Instinctively he backed away then, unfortunately running into the rack behind him. He fell and became entangled between the many long dresses. he could feel the walker crawling closer but when he was able to look up Enid loomed over the creature with a sharp piece of metal and with one lethal swoop she decapitated the creature. She almost looked like someone you'd see playing golf on the noon of a Sunday. Its head rolled across the tile, leaving a trail of dark blood behind.

this was Ron's time to catch his breathe. he didn't realize how much noise he'd made in the followed Enid into the store and closed the door behind him. The darkness consumed the room and left then teens in relative darkness.

"R-Ron, are you ok? you're not bitten or scratched are you?" Carl asked a bit frantically.

Ron sniffed and let out his last bit of breath before he was ready to answer.

"N-no I'm ok… I don't think so… I-I…"

"Its ok, calm down…" Enid said, after stabbing the metal through the forehead of the disembodied head.

Carl extended his hand and pulled Him up, brushing off the dust from his jacket.

They all searched the place, in a group, all together, mostly with Ron in the middle to keep and eye out. One it was clear that the place was vacant they began to take a few boards off the front of the store's windows to allow the sunlight to shine in. Illuminating the department once again.

"I'm going to get my own clothes, you two can.. do whatever we came here to do," Enid said, quickly winking at Carl.

Ron noticed this and asked if this was his idea. Carl nodded hesitantly.

"there's something I think I should tell you…i guess." He sighed " I came here today so I could get, a… one of, you know?"

He pointed to a nearby rack, upon it was a handful of ruffled skirts.

"you wanna get a skirt?"

Even In the dark room, Ron could tell that Carl had begun to blush.

"Hey, Listen." Ron started. "Don't feel bad ok? you can be a badass and still wear what you want."

His peer gave him a soft smile as they went over to the rack together.

The hours passed in the confinement of the store, half the racks empty now as the two boys sat on a stack of clothes, the word stack used lightly.

Ron held a folded stack of three skirts as he watched Carl exit the dressing room with a very short, almost velvet like the skirt. The blue looked stunning on him especially against the color of his eyes.

"Wow..."

"What? Does it look bad?"

"No no, not at all, I think it looks really cute actually." Ron laughed nervously. The attire was cute there's no denying that, His peer looked oddly attractive in the Short skirt, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"I think I'll take this one back with me actually."

"I don't blame ya, it looks stunning."

Carl bit his lip and re-entered the changing room. Not long after he called for Ron to help him with a zipper.

When he let Ron in it was obvious what the problem was, he'd gotten the back of his shirt all wrapped up in the zipper and the angle the zipper was at made it too difficult for him to undo himself.

But, to fix the problem it was again, clear that he had to undo the skirt and unhook the fabric from the teeth.

"can you, uh, Bend over?"

Carl made a face but, obliged willingly.

Will his peer's ass in the air Ron gulped and began loosening the little threads from the ridges. Carl bit the back of his hand, it felt weird to have someone touching him but, it just felt..oddly inviting…

As Ron moved closer to the end of the skirt he noticed something under it. From the looks, it was another thing of a similar blue but.. with lace? It covered Carl's ass hardly it seemed rather uncomfortable to have something as tight as that on.

Then the realization dawned upon him, they were blue, light blue women's panties…

His face went red as he slowly reached up and around the plump rump to pull at the edge of the panties. Carl noticed, panicked at first but then found himself leaning back into his touch.

"Are you ok with this?" Ron whispered.

"I think, just, this time, go slow…"

"Listen, we don't have to..."

"But I want to." Carl purred, grind back just a tad more

Ron pulled away the Blue lace and began to expose the lovely ass the belonged to the Grimes boy. Little freckles covered most of the top leading up to his back. Once his hole appeared Ron began to stare at the pink little muscle. He pressed a thumb to the skin and watched it twitch under his touch.

"Wait," Carl said, turning around face to face with his friend. He studied Ron's expression, dragging his eyes across his soft cheeks that were dotted with dirt and acne.

Then, He leaned in to press a soft, loving kiss to the chapped lips of the teen. Ron didn't hesitate to kiss back.

Carl moved, and pressed Ron against the mirror of the changing quarters.

"I wanna make you feel as good as you make me feel."

He trailed down his body, tracing the outline of his chest. Ron threw his head back as he grew more and more aroused but the scenario, he breathed out into the musky air as Carl moved lower to palm at his growing bulge.

"You're so beautiful..." Ron whispers, looking down at Him.

Carl undid the zipper and pulled out the thick base of his peer's cock. A droplet of pre-come began to flow down his shaft, smiling up he took the tip between his lips.

"Fuck..."

He moves slower but sucks a bit more on the tip as he begins to work his way down. All the while his free hand reaching down to please himself.

Ron was in almost complete bliss as he began threading his fingers through the deep Browns locks. Soon the sensation was just too much, he was going to cum.

"Carl. W-wait."

His lips pulled off of the head, leaving a string of saliva behind.

"Yea?"

"C-can we...-?"

"Yes, I think I'm ready..."

He turned around to face the wall with the hooks, pressing his hands up against it and moving his ass up into the air.

Ron audibly gulped at the sight. Touching the brim of his already loose skirt, he pulled it down all the way to the ground along with the light blue undergarments.

Carl's pale arse was in full view now, splattered with little brown freckles.

"If you want me to stop, just say so, ok?" Carl nodded. Ron moved his head to the plush rump and ran his tongue over the plump skin, planting soft kisses along the way. When Ron reached the hole he paused when he saw scars around the entrance, he hadn't seen these before. Quickly, so his partner wouldn't notice his observation Ron pressed his tongue to the entrance, softly moving it back and forth. Carl let out a deep moan against the wall, his whole body was quivering now.

Darting his tongue in and out, Ron felt Carl move his ass back, first subtly, then prominently grinding.

Ron removed his tongue and slipped two fingers into his mouth, after sucking on those vigorously he slipped them into the already wet entrance or the other teen

"I've only seen this is porn..."

Carl moaned, grinding his hips back into the feeling.

Of course, he had to be stretched with more than one finger so Ron generously added another and moved them apart and together in a scissoring kind of motion.

Carl broke into a swear, he was a mess of muffled Mewls and whines. He was almost at a loss for words.

Not long after the third finger was added, Ron pulled away and pressed a kiss to Carl's hole one last time. He undressed and spit on his palm to prepare his own throbbing member. Pushing the lubed head to his peer entrance he began to slide inside.

"W-Wait! Carl yelped

"What? Are you ok?"

Carl shuddered, it burned horribly and he had already begun to feel so full.

"Can you wait a second... It burns..."

"Of course, it's only the head, though, if that matters."

For a while, the two laid in each other's embrace against the wall of the changing room as Carl's hole

Clenched and pulsated around Ron's cock. He wanted to thrust in just a bit but it would hurt Carl and there's no way he'd let that happen again.

"You can m-move now.."

"Are you sure?"

Carl purred as he moved back against the throbbing member and oh did it feel so good. The burning sensation passed rather quick after Ron's first few sloppy thrusts. It was hard to get the hang out it at first but soon he was able to push in and out with ease.

"You're so damn t-tight..."

There was no response due to the fact that Carl had pulled up his shirt and stuffed it into his mouth. There was a long trail of little moans and groans, not to mention her was mumbling as well. But he hadn't felt this submissive to someone since... What happened.

"Mast- - Ron... Please..."

Ron paused, slowing his hips as he went to reach for his peer's erection and jerk it, along with his own bucking hips.

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna cum..." He muttered, leaning more into Carl's back, dragging his nails across the soft pale skin.

"Inside... Inside me.." Carl whimpered between breathes.

Soon, Ron cumming, hot and wet ropes into his peers clenched hole. He could feel his cock twitch as he let out a long deep groan.

Carl shook, still awaiting his own orgasm. But the wet sensation inside of his was so hot he couldn't help but touch himself.

"Let me help you with that... It's the least I can do." Ron whispered between breathes.

He engulfed the tip in a needy fashion, causing Carl to just about blow his load right there and then.

But he had to keep watching as Ron sloppily jerked and sucked at his pulsing member until he finally came into his peer's mouth with an almost breathtaking sensation.

"Fuck..." He muttered as he watched Ron lick his lips and swallow the rest of his seed.

"Well, spitters are quitters." He chuckled. Carl leaned for a kiss and Ron didn't deny him.

There really couldn't be a more perfect moment.


	15. AN 145

Just FYI, i havent been here in like a month? and i fixed the other chapter *thumbs up*


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